Design Council Cabe appointed to key Old Oak and Park Royal role

The Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation has appointed Design Council Cabe to a key new role that will aim to ensure all new developments on the largest regeneration site in London meet the very highest of design standards.

A High Speed 2 and Crossrail interchange is due to be built at Old Oak Common in West London by 2026, and it will transform one of the most inaccessible parts of the capital into a well-connected, world-class transport hub, handling 250,000 passengers a day. 

To maximise this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the Mayor of London Boris Johnson launched the Development Corporation in April to drive forward future regeneration and deliver up to 25,500 homes and 65,000 jobs. It will look to create the standard-bearer for new sustainable neighbourhoods, delivering housing and commercial development, creating opportunities for local people and driving innovation and growth in London and the UK.  

Following a competitive tender process, the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation have selected Design Council Cabe to set up and manage a PLACE (Planning, Landscape, Architecture, Conservation and Engineering) Review Group. This new role will see Design Council Cabe launch and manage an independent review group tasked with improving the quality of development proposals and embedding place-making into planning policy.

The scale of the opportunity at Old Oak and Park Royal is enormous.

Sir Edward Lister, London’s Deputy Mayor for Planning and Chairman of the OPDC Board

Design Council Cabe’s network of 250 built environment professionals will provide the Development Corporation with access to a wide range of leading expert professionals across the PLACE themes and beyond. The PLACE Review Group will operate according to the recommendations set out in the Government-commissioned Farrell Review of architecture and the built environment. 

London’s Deputy Mayor for Planning and Chairman of the OPDC Board, Sir Edward Lister, said: “The scale of the opportunity at Old Oak and Park Royal is enormous. Nowhere else in London has the potential to deliver so many new homes and jobs and it is vital that we deliver a new high-quality piece of the capital for the benefit of the area and the communities that surround it. This new group will help to ensure that our ambitions to secure world class architecture and exemplar place-making are realised.”

The PLACE Group will bring together an unprecedented breadth of expertise to support the OPDC in realising the potential of the most significant regeneration project in the UK. Specialists in public health, inclusion, SMART and culture will join experts in planning, built environment, and design. Together they will provide strategic advice to drive design excellence across all aspects of Old Oak and Park Royal, delivering social, economic and environmental benefits to enhance the lives of existing and future generations in London.