Information Pack November 2020 The Royal Foundation of St Katharine and their development partners have been working on plans to bring forward development of the ‘Northern Site’. The Northern Site is located between the DLR viaduct and the Foundation’s main building on Butcher Row. 2 St Katharine’s Precinct | Information Pack November 2020 Where we are today The Foundation has roots in the East End of London going back to the 1140s and we are now reviewing our future. We want to be more ambitious and continue to strengthen our charitable activities in the neighbourhood. The first step on this journey was the opening of St Katharine’s Precinct. ‘The Precinct’ is the meanwhile project on site today, comprising Yurts, shipping containers and a kitchen garden. The purpose of the Precinct project was to understand how the Foundation could expand further to cater to a wider community. These meanwhile uses have become extremely important to the community; we want to provide a permanent home for these uses and expand the Foundation’s local offering. During 2018, we shared design proposals in a series of public and one-to-one events with the community and Precinct user groups. Taking on board lessons learnt from operating the Precinct and the feedback received over 2018, the design team has since finalised the proposals. We are pleased to be able to share these proposals with you ahead of our upcoming planning application. 3 St Katharine’s Precinct | Information Pack November 2020 Our Proposals Our proposals are: • A community café, meeting & event space and subsidised incubator workspace • New rooms and conference space for the Royal Foundation of St Katharine’s retreat centre • New pedestrian route and a new landscaped courtyard • 115 new homes for Limehouse and Shadwell – including new affordable and family homes We are excited to update the community on our plans and explain how they have developed in response to previous feedback. We welcome your views on the changes we have made, which you can share with us by completing the feedback survey on the website: www.stkatharinesprecinct.co.uk Sketch of the ground floor 4 St Katharine’s Precinct | Information Pack November 2020 Key Benefits The benefits of the proposals for the redevelopment of The Northern Site include: A permanent home for An improved offer for the Growth in Limehouse and Improved public space the Precinct Foundation Shadwell Expanded hospitality Increased footfall, and retreat facilities An improved A permanent home for resulting in more to safeguard the pedestrian experience the Yurt Café; spending at local Foundation facilities for on Butcher Row; businesses; future generations; A new place to meet New high quality A new permanent people in the new architecture to enhance public route A new front door for landscaped and connecting the DLR the neigbourhood; the Foundation; greened public route; station with Butcher Row and beyond; A new publicly New permanent jobs Safeguarding the accessible courtyard for Limehouse and Foundation’s existing for Limehouse and Shadwell; A permanent Shadwell, community space; hospitality/retreat where facilities; residents can enjoy a New jobs and tranquil and relaxed apprenticeships for young people New subsidised atmosphere; during incubator workspace the construction phase; for 28 people, helping small local businesses, start-ups and social New homes for enterprises grow; Limehouse and Shadwell. 5 St Katharine’s Precinct | Information Pack November 2020 Royal Foundation of St Katharine The Royal Foundation of St Katharine (RFSK) was founded in 1147 by Queen Matilda and has served as a centre for worship, hospitality and service ever since. One of England’s oldest and longest-running charitable organisations, the Foundation returned to East London 75 years ago. The Foundation serves as an extraordinary urban oasis in the heart of London, serving as a remarkable place of peace and tranquillity in the busyness of London life. Our facilities welcome a vast array of groups from across all backgrounds, faiths and professions, hosting over 1000 events a year at a subsidised rate for some of the leading charities and not-for profit organisations. Alongside this, we provide overnight hospitality and conference facilities for a range of groups, businesses and individuals. Our local community work is centred on our Yurt community café that provides a great meeting and work place for many independent creatives. A food bank, community garden, musicians practice room and business incubator space forms part of our Foundation life and this is what we especially want to develop in the coming years through our proposals for St Katharine’s Precinct. 6 St Katharine’s Precinct | Information Pack October 2020 Development Partners Acorn Property Group Acorn are an independent development and regeneration company with substantial experience of delivering new buildings and public spaces. Acorn are working in collaboration with the Royal Foundation of St Katharine to bring forward these plans. They have strong experience of working in sensitive contexts, having completed a number of award-winning developments in Southwark. Most recently, they have completed a development for the Corporation of Trinity House alongside the Grade II listed Trinity Church Square and the Grade II listed London Session House in Borough SE1. Matthew Lloyd Architects Matthew Lloyd Architects (MLA) are the architects bringing forward the design of the new buildings. MLA are known for sensitive and contextual architecture. With a breadth of experience across East London, including the delivery of an extension to the existing building and the current meanwhile uses for the Precinct, MLA have an unrivalled understanding of the local area. Kanda Consulting Kanda are specialists in working with community organisations, businesses and residents to ensure they have the opportunity to offer meaningful, early input into local developments. Matthew Lloyd Architects previous work 7 St Katharine’s Precinct | Information Pack November 2020 The Site The ‘Northern Site’ is located on land due north of the Royal Foundation of St Katharine, CROSS ST RATCLIFFE immediately west of Limehouse Station. This land LIMEHOUSE BOULCOTT ST BOULCOTT is owned and maintained by the Foundation and COMMERCIAL RD has been unused for decades. The land now hosts ‘St Katharine’s Precinct’, a ‘meanwhile project’ established by the RATCLIFFE LN Foundation to understand how it could expand its offering and strengthen its connections with the neighbourhood. THE SITE Built in 2016, the Precinct hosts a range of ST KATHARINE’S neighbourhood facilities, including the popular PRECINCT Yurt Café and several shipping containers. Together these provide spaces for activities that have successfully brought the local community and a diverse range of user groups together. BUTCHER ROW BEKESBOURNE ST CABLE ST ROYAL FOUNDATION OF ST KATHARINE Our neighbours ST. JAMES GARDENS Our immediate neighbours include residential blocks to the east; the DLR viaduct and its ROTHERHITHE TUNNEL servicing lane to the north; Butcher Row, a commercial street hosting local businesses, offices and industrial space, to the west; and St James Gardens to the south. LIMEHOUSE LINK TUNNEL 8 St Katharine’s Precinct | Information Pack November 2020 Planning Context Tower Hamlets Council has set out ambitions for Limehouse in its Local Plan, which include a focus on delivering new shops, commercial and civic spaces in the area. The site falls within the area covered by the Limehouse Neighbourhood Plan, which is being developed by the Limehouse Community Forum in consultation with local residents and sets out key priorities for local developments, including: Creating open and green spaces Private and affordable housing Establishing services and Providing a mix of retail, facilities to accommodate the commercial, civic and other ongoing regeneration of the area employment uses Part of the site lies within the boundary of the York Square Conservation Area. The Master’s House and the RFSK chapel, to the south of the site, are both statutory listed. 9 St Katharine’s Precinct | Information Pack November 2020 St Katharine’s Precinct What is St Katharine’s Precinct? The Northern Site now hosts ‘St Katharine’s Precinct’, a ‘meanwhile project’ established by the Foundation to understand how it could expand its offering and strengthen its connections with the neighbourhood. The current Precinct includes a variety of uses, all managed by the Foundation, including: • The Yurt Café; • Converted shipping containers for use by local creatives and other community groups. The facilities have proved extremely popular with the local community and the experience has provided the Foundation with valuable learning. In particular, the Foundation has made important connections with local community groups and initiatives. The Foundation has used the lessons learned from this experience to inform new spaces that will provide a new permanent home for the Precinct. This will result in spaces that serve as a long-term home for community groups and that expand the Foundation’s offering, whilst providing new space for the community. All the work that the staff at the Precinct have achieved over the last four years will be continued in a new permanent home for this initiative, serving the community for the years to come. The following pages detail how we will do so. 10 St Katharine’s Precinct | Information Pack November 2020 Responding to Covid-19 Recently, the Precinct has adapted to the unique and difficult circumstances of Covid-19. One of the containers has hosted a food bank and food delivery service for those in the neighbourhood who were sheltering. Local volunteers, working with RFSK, have used the space to support the community. This This highlights the capacity of the includes Limehouse Aid, a mutual aid and distribution network. Precinct, and the Foundation more broadly, to be able to adapt to the needs The Yurt Café was temporarily transformed into a takeaway service and convenience store, continuing to of the local community. The permanent serve new and regular customers.