Newham Council's plans to restore James Riley Point a high-rise building on the Carpenters Estate in Stratford have been given the green light.

The restoration will deliver 132 social rent homes, as part of Mayor Fiaz's housing agenda to deliver homes that Newham residents can afford.

Alongside a state-of-the-art community and sports centre, James Riley Point signals the start of London's most significant estate regeneration programmes on the Carpenters Estate.

The successful approval of James Riley Point by the LLDC Planning Committee means that the Council's wholly-owned housing delivery company, Populo Living, can action the start of works on the long-neglected high-rise in the coming months.

Works on the 23 storey James Riley Point high-rise will see the existing 1960s building stripped back to its concrete frame and transformed to a modern sustainable structure with increased space, larger balconies and four additional flats.

A new community centre is also part of the restoration plans, providing a new home for the pioneering Carpenters and Docklands Centre which will include a new sports hall, a 5-aside football pitch and facilities for an after school club and café for young people living on the estate as well as local residents.

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Mayor Fiaz said: "Since my re-election I have tasked the Council and Populo Living to get stuff done, and they'll be hitting the ground running with the restoration plans for James Riley Point, because residents on the Carpenters Estate have waited far too long. Homes that our people can afford is one of the crucial missions as the re-elected the Mayor of Newham and another 1,500 new Council homes is my promise to the people of Newham in the coming four years.

"Planning approval for James Riley Point is great news for residents living on the Carpenters Estate and those with a right to return, because I promised them back in 2018 that I won't let them down. I'll now get cracking with the Council and Populo Living teams to drive the restoration programme so families in Newham can move in and we show the actions we are taking to build a fairer Newham, with a £1 billion investment to help change lives by providing high quality and new sustainable homes that local people can afford."

Proctor & Matthews developed the architecture narrative of the design which aims to respect the Modernist heritage of the existing tower while bringing in new elements that activate the surrounding streetscape, embedding the tower into its context. The brand-new community building it designed is made up of a series of pavilions that wrap around the base creating an active and engaging extension to the landscape.

The residential refurbishment of the tower, by ECD Architects, will bring the homes up to Passivhaus standards as well as provide new internal fittings and reconfigure internal rooms, sizes, and amenity spaces to meet National Housing Standards and London Plan policy. A series of new clustered balconies will give a sense of enclosure, as well as solar protection. The building will be clad in glazed coloured ceramics, referencing the area’s heritage of porcelain manufacturing, while bringing a sense of vibrancy and character.

By revitalising the ground floor with new community facilities and refurbishing the existing tower, the project sets a standard for how other 20th century tower typologies could be developed in the future.