Stratford City is a £4bn, 73ha mixed-use development located on former rail land in East London featuring a mix of residential, retail, commercial and community spaces. The site is intersected by High Speed 1 and is being developed as two parcels of land linked by a number of bridges.

Throughout the project our environmental specialists have contributed technical advice on a wide range of issues such as energy, sustainability, daylight and wind engineering. We also provided masterplanning, infrastructure design, transport planning and project management services.

The development of the former rail land into East London’s mixed-use Developments include a large residential area, Europe’s largest single retail development, an area for commercial offices and numerous hotels, community facilities and open spaces.

Environmental expertise

Our environment team was involved in the project from 2002, producing an Environmental Statement (ES) to accompany the original outline planning application, managing the EIA and producing the specialist assessment chapters. We identified robust environmental mitigation strategies while retaining enough flexibility to allow for change over the estimated 15-20 year development period. Further environmental information was submitted by Arup in 2004, and outline planning consent was granted in 2005. Arup went on to prepare more than 25 Environmental Screening and Compliance Statements for various reserved matters and other applications. 

Creating a sustainable strategy

Since 2002, our team has been creating an Environmental Statement (ES) to accompany the project’s original outline planning application, while also managing the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process and producing specialist assessment chapters. 

Through this work, we have created environmental mitigation strategies that are comprehensive, yet still flexible enough to allow for change over the planned 15–20-year development period. This helps improve the project’s resilience and avoid the need for future interventions, which could result in increased costs and carbon emissions. Building on these robust foundations of environmental expertise, the project team was able to create a sustainable mixed-use development for future generations.

Since hosting the 2012 Olympics, the Stratford City development has become a thriving metropolitan centre that includes Europe’s largest single retail development

Stratford City comprises a compelling mix of residential, retail, commercial and community spaces

Rail corridors – unlocking significant value

At Arup we have long advocated that developing high-speed rail isn’t just about adding a rail line – it’s an opportunity to develop a major economic growth corridor – driving a range of urban transformations. We took this ‘place-based’ approach to decision making for HS1, which found favour with government. This meant every decision relating to route, station and design elements, was evaluated in terms of its ability to deliver the wider place making outcomes. This is evident in the level of growth around stations at Kings Cross/St Pancras and Stratford City, where major new urban districts have been delivered which have created enormous economic value for the UK.

Masterplanning for the future

Development of the mixed-use Stratford City played a key role in the city’s successful bid for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games – a decade and more later, it continues to produce growth and social value. We collaborated on the masterplan with Fletcher Priest, West 8 and 20 other architectural practices. The process brought together a wide range of disciplines from infrastructure design, transport planning and project management, working in collaboration with developers and masterplanners to maximise the development potential and shape the landform while maintaining the outline planning approvals. Technical approvals for our work were obtained from Network Rail, High Speed 1 (CTRL), DLR, TfL, EA, ODA & London Borough of Newham.

Over a decade on, it is delivering exactly the kind of anchor and legacy intended for communities. The masterplan has proved to be a highly resilient development framework. It has delivered a novel, high-quality and sustainable piece of city development within a dramatically changing urban context, becoming one of the most engaging places in London. Behind that transformation and legacy lies a careful balance of quality design, operation efficiency and development flexibility in the face of challenging economic conditions.

The project team faced a tricky site. With Stratford City acting as a gateway to the Olympic Park, they had to find inventive ways to transform the development’s infrastructure for the Games and accommodate thousands of spectators at the time. Designing the infrastructure for Stratford City was a unique project. With bare minimum on the site, our designers started from scratch.

As a masterplan, Stratford City continues to evolve and develop. The V&A East museum brings new cultural opportunities to the area. UAL’s London College of Fashion and Sadlers Wells ballet are now based on the edge of the park. Additional residential developments are appearing and businesses locating operations within the area. The scheme demonstrates how leisure, residential, commercial office and transport infrastructure can be unified in a development that gains its own momentum and continues to drive benefits for local communities.

Reflecting on a decade of development at London’s Olympic Park

Next phase: Stratford station redesign

Our work at Stratford City continues. Arup is leading the next stage of design work for the planned redevelopment of Stratford station, working as a partner to the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), Network Rail, Transport for London, Places for London and Newham Council.