Waltham Forest’s largest ever planning application – from Pollard Thomas Edwards for its Coronation Square project – last week became one of the first major projects to win permission from a virtual planning committee.

Justin Laskin, Associate Partner at Pollard Thomas Edwards, said the practice had been delighted at the news: ‘Coronation Square – which blends much-needed housing with carefully thought-through social infrastructure - is crucial to Leyton’s future’, he said. ‘This is sustainable city-making in the truest sense: creating a new mixed-use quarter for a diverse community on brownfield land, with excellent transport links and amenity space for people of all ages. And significantly, its centralised district heating network has the capacity to power all of the new homes planned for the area in the years to come.'

Courtyard Garden

The practice’s Tom Dollard added that it was also one of the quickest decisions, with under 30 minutes of discussion involved. ‘It’s a good example of using tech to make the planning process more efficient’, he said. ‘Well done all involved’.

Designed to be ‘contextual yet distinctive’, Coronation Square uses robust materials to reflect the character of Leyton’s stone and brick civic buildings, and won unanimous planning consent via a virtual planning committee on Tuesday 31 March 2020. t Pink London Fletton brick will bring warmth and a rough texture, combined in striking contrast with precise pre-cast concrete elements. This concrete, the architects added, is used for exoskeleton balconies and marks civic functions within Market Square, acting as a frame to communal entrances and providing a blank canvas for local artists at each opening. A new building, Market Hall, provides a community focal point at the western edge of Market Square, referencing a medieval moot hall in its civic setting and activating the square with retail and commercial uses.

Market Square

In addition to the civic square, Coronation Square will deliver high-quality landscaping and new green spaces. The 750 new homes are arranged around shared garden courtyards, that include lawns for recreation, a large water feature, play space for all ages and productive gardens. 

A full programme of community engagement was carried out prior to the application, with feedback from Waltham Forest residents used to help shape the final proposals. The project team will now begin the process of preparing to start work on site, taking full account of Government guidelines in relation to the COVID-19 crisis. The whole project is due to be completed by 2027.

Waltham Forest Council Cabinet Member for Economic Growth and Housing Delivery, Councillor Simon Miller, said: “This is the largest home building scheme in the Council’s current programme, and we are pleased that it now has conditional planning permission and is able to move forward. As well as providing much needed new homes, including affordable ones, the scheme also boosts the health care and childcare facilities in Leyton as well as providing many other benefits for the wider community, including local jobs for local people both during and after the construction work.”

Masterplan