Member Article

Morgan Sindall marks construction milestone at the top of Canning Town

Morgan Sindall Construction has celebrated a topping out ceremony on the top level of Manor Road Quarter, Canning Town’s latest residential development.

The 32-storey mixed use building will create 355 homes within the largest of the site’s three new towers. On completion in 2024, it will become one of the tallest buildings in Canning Town.

On the 5th of September, guests were invited to the highest storey of the building and heard speeches from Morgan Sindall’s London Area Director Richard Dobson, Project Manager David Williams and Muse’s Project Director, Barry Chaney. Following the speeches, attendees were invited to sign the Level 31 steel upstand, 107m above ground-level.

Morgan Sindall was appointed to deliver the £107.25 million project by the English Cities Fund (ECF). The English Cities Fund is a national development partnership between nationwide placemaker, Muse, Legal & General, one of the UK’s leading financial institutions and major global investor and the government’s housing and regeneration agency, Homes England.

Phase two of the project received planning consent in July to create a further 290 homes across four new buildings. The planning application for the project’s third phase is due to be submitted to the London Borough of Newham in early 2024. The second and third phases will see Manor Road Quarter bring forward an additional 449 new homes, making a total of 804 homes in Canning Town, with 50% affordable.

In addition to the housing, Manor Road Quarter will add a significant amount of new family-friendly leisure and amenity space as well as commercial and retail areas and a 2.9-acre park.

The tier one contractor and ECF’s commitment to developing sustainable careers within the communities it operates in has it seen it support employment and skills opportunities during the development.

To date, the project has created 352 new job vacancies for people who were previously unemployed or were employed specifically on Manor Road Quarter, of which the vast majority were secured by Newham residents. Five students are employed at the development full time, 36 apprentices have been appointed and as of July, 9% of the 615 operatives onsite are from the local area.

The new neighbourhood at Manor Road is being delivered by ECF in partnership with the Greater London Authority’s Homes for Londoners’ team, London Borough of Newham and Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing Association (MTVH), one of the UK’s largest housing associations. The 177 affordable homes built in phase one will be owned, managed, and administered by MTVH.

Richard Dobson, Morgan Sindall’s Area Director for London, said: “The topping out ceremony at Manor Road Quarter provides a great vantage point to reflect on how this development is bringing significant change and benefits to the Borough of Newham.

“Not only could we see how Canning Town’s skyline is evolving, but on the ground, we’re already delivering a wide variety of skills and career opportunities as well as collaborating with local businesses, schools and community groups. And once complete, there’ll be hundreds of new, high-quality affordable homes for Newham’s residents as well as great new spaces like the park, which is going to connect the area with greenery and wildlife-rich communal areas.”

“We look forward to generating further social value for Newham alongside our partners and supply chain, who have really supported this aspect of the project over the past 18 months. This hard work will continue over the course of this multi-phase development, to enrich the local area’s residential, environmental and economic landscapes.”

Barry Chaney, Project Director at The English Cities Fund, said: “Manor Road Quarter is already proving to be a key catalyst for regeneration in Newham and the topping out ceremony really showcased how it is shaping Canning Town in a creative, community-focused way.

“With phase one now at its highest point and phase two receiving consent from the London Borough of Newham, this really is just the start. Over the coming months, we’re going to continue delivering valuable benefits for the local area, ranging from jobs, apprenticeships, and training opportunities to healthier streets, green spaces, and hundreds of much needed affordable homes.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by John Robson .