Frequently Asked Questions

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We are planning to redevelop 63-67 Newington Causeway to create a mixed usedevelopment containing c. 1,550 sqft of flexible commercial space and c. 250 student homes with landscaping and biodiversity improvements and enhancements.  

Overall, we see the key benefits of the scheme being as follows:

• As a constrained site, student housing will add to the mix of land uses in the area placing less pressure on the site than a residential development.
• Our plans will create a slender  building that respects the proposed heights for buildings facing onto Newington Causeway.
• Significant improvements to the public realm and pedestrian and cycle experience around the site.
• A substantial financial payment towards the provision of off-site affordable housing will be made as is not practicable to provide conventional affordable housing on site alongside.

The rooms will be available to anyone who is a full time student and meets the relevant criteria which will be included within the Section 106 legal agreement with the council.

In developing our proposals for the site we have established a masterplan proposal for the adjacent sites. This masterplan illustrates that development at 63-67 Newington Causewaydoes not compromise development on adjacent sites and makes the case for a taller building forming a cluster with 87 Newington Causeway.

63 Newington Causeway has a strong commitment to sustainability and community engagement, ensuring that our developments are environmentally friendly and beneficial to the local community.

The building form and elevational treatment have been designed to respond to the context and provide a unique and distinctive design to the complement the park and provide an attractive backdrop and gateway to this green space.  The palette of brick tones proposed picks up on the more traditional brick and stone buildings creating a solid and textured response to the context as a counterpoint to the new developments featuring glazed tower blocks.  

As the 63-67 Newington Causeway site is relatively constrained, student housing will add to the mix of land uses in this town centre site placing less pressure on the site than a residential development.  Nevertheless, a substantial financial payment towards the provision of off-site affordable housing will be made as is not practicable to provide conventional affordable housing on site alongside as this would require independent accesses/cores, resulting in gross inefficiencies in the building, and a poorer quality of accommodation overall.  

C.1,550 sqm of flexible commercial space will be provided across three storeys.  A flexible commercial unit accessible to the public will be located at ground floor level, facing onto Newington Causeway, with flexible office space at basement, first and second floors. This space will be suitable for a wide range of tenants, with flexible floorplates allowing the market demands to shape the detailed design for the space at fit out stage. We are keen to hear from local people about the type and nature of the proposed commercial space.

Yes, this will be outlined as a requirement in the contract that the main contractor selects and employs local people and apprentices at various levels of the NVQ (or equivalent) qualification. It is proposed that a large proportion of these apprentices are recruited locally.

The project will comply with all Southwark’s employment policy in relation to employing local people as well as aligning to the London living wage program.

We are currently undertaking pre-planning application consultation.  We intend to submit a planning application in Q4 2024.    

The site is not within a conservation area although the Grade 2 listed Inner Sessions Court building is nearby although screened from the site by a modern extension building.

 Servicing of our building will take place from Avonmouth Street.  

The scheme has been designed as a car-free development, in line with the Mayor’s London Plan. [There will be one allocated blue badge space on site].

There will be policy compliant long-term cycle parking on the 1sr floor of the building as well as short-stay cycle parking in the public realm.

The construction of the building is likely to take around 30 months.

Sustainability is of the utmost importance to us, which is why we ensure that all of our new developments are lean, clean and green. 

We will employ a variety of sustainability measures including:

• A “fabric first” approach - Using only energy efficient components and materials 

• An airtight thermal envelope with accredited thermal bridging prevention - Keeping heat within the building for longer

 • Solar PV - At roof level 

• Air Source Heat Pumps - Extracting heat from the air to heat the building, reducing carbon emissions

 • Use of smart tech - To reduce demand by monitoring usage and encouraging sustainable student behaviour 

Through these measures, we will target at least a 35% reduction in on-site carbon emissions, with a higher figure desired. We will then offset whatever our remaining emissions are, ensuring we are a Net Zero development.

The London Borough of Southwark will limit construction hours through the use of planning conditions.

There will be no night-time working during construction.

A construction management plan will be implemented to minimise disruption during the construction phase. This would be a condition of any permission received and would be formulated in close liaison with LB Southwark’s Transport team.