Built on a former brownfield site, Barking Riverside is a new neighbourhood in East London that is projected to deliver up to 20,000 new homes and become one of Europe’s largest urban developments.
Beckett Rankine was the Principal Designer for the first phase of the foreshore development works, advancing the project to the construction tender stage and supporting consent applications.
The main aim was to improve the flood defences in line with the Thames Estuary 2100 Strategy requirements, whilst also respecting the project’s natural environment.
The work will turn the riverside into an enjoyable public space including a promenade, children’s play area, a pathway through coastal grassland, and a new terrace beside the award-winning Barking Pier, which was designed by Beckett Rankine and opened in 2022.
We conducted an initial feasibility assessment of the foreshore’s outline planning design, providing recommendations for value engineering and alternative solutions. We then progressed to the concept design, project managing the civil engineers and landscape designers to integrate the flood defence raising within the wider development.
The river frontage has been designed with sensitivity for the local ecology, protecting existing habitats and creating an intertidal terrace with an area gain of around 1,250m2 to support local wildlife.
