Community, Leisure and Cultural Uses (Use Classes D1 and D2)

8.16 The area will comprise a continuous retail frontage along Walworth Road (with residential access to the upper floors) with
a mix of smaller retail and commercial units on the Central Shopping Street. The setting of the new Walworth Square and
the Central Shopping Street will also provide the opportunity for community uses along them. Taller buildings are
proposed on Plots H1, H2, H3, H6 and H7. The taller buildings within the character area are grouped along Walworth
Road and the secondary retail street. They generally rise in height towards the transport interchange of the primary
approach and the secondary street and are anchored by the Market Square and Walworth Square. The tall building
locations are at nodal intersections of street corners and act as landmark position in relation to land use at ground floor.
New Kent Road
8.17 The character area includes the frontage of the plots onto the other key strategic route to the perimeter of the Site, the
side elevations of these plots and the connections through to the Park. The character of this area is most clearly defined
by the existing busy route and the relationship with connections north-south through to the Park and gateway spaces.
8.18 The principal objectives for the New Kent Road character area are to:
Respond to the busy and strategic context of the existing street whilst transforming the relationship with the
buildings, reconnecting with the wider area and linking through to the new Park;
Create an inviting gateway and a series of routes through to the Park that form the new approach from the north
into the Development;
Provide a larger format retail offer and an active street environment;
Maximise the opportunities of views across London with tall and mid-rise buildings creating a rhythm and
punctuation of the street;
Attract people from the north with focal buildings and destination public open space;
Retain the existing trees on the New Kent Road frontage;
Provide a concluding focus to New Kent Road and a relationship to the tall building context of the transport
interchange with height rising towards the western end of the Site.
8.19 The New Kent Road character area will deliver a sequence of taller structures above larger-format commercial units and
relate to adjacent gateway spaces and route connections whilst also reinforcing the primary approach towards the
Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre and Oakmayne Plaza on the key strategic route.
8.20 The area will comprise large double-height retail frontage with larger format stores to attract brand retail. Uppers floors
will be residential with leisure and commercial uses at ground floor. Taller buildings are proposed on Plots H4, H5, and
H11a. The strategy for the taller buildings is to use them as terminating points of New Kent Road punctuated by northsouth
connections through to the park. The buildings rise in height towards transport interchanges and Oakmayne Plaza
and are located the intersections of new routes to aid legibility of the Site.
Walworth Local
8.21 The character area encompasses the buildings that make the transition from the retail and Park frontages of the Heygate
Masterplan and introduce a variety of more local residential connections and buildings that come down to ground level.
8.22 The principal objectives for the Walworth Local character area are to:
Deliver a local and calm residential quarter with clear street definition and a contextual relation to the neighbouring
existing buildings;
Respect the scale and context of the historic fabric of Walworth to the south and the proposed Conservation Area of
Larcom Street;
Provide a pocket park and local residential amenity with play space, family housing and ground level courtyards;
Provide community facilities and a quieter district feel;
Link through to wider borough connections leading to Burgess Park in the south and Victory Community Park to the
east;
Deliver a transformed Heygate Street environment with calmed traffic and a relaxed residential atmosphere with
pedestrian activity;
Reinforce a key west to east link within the wider context and facilitating local north to south crossing routes;
Maintain a tree-lined and green character of all Routes and retain the best existing mature trees whilst integrating
with a wider landscape strategy and green infrastructure Routes.
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The Heygate Masterplan Elephant and Castle Outline Planning Application March 2012