Culture and community: the cornerstones of Canada Water’s regeneration

In the coming years, Art-Invest Real Estate will deliver three exceptional buildings as Dockside Canada Water, complete with intuitively designed public spaces that connect people-first workspaces to the soon-to-be rejuvenated eastern dock edge, but the expansive regeneration of Canada Water extends far beyond these plots, and is already taking shape at the hands of neighbouring development partnership British Land and AustralianSuper.

The latter half of 2024 saw the unveiling of Rafter Walk, the bold red Asif Khan-designed boardwalk that spans the dock, paving the way for the first steps into the bright future of Canada Water and becoming an overnight landmark thanks to significant media attention. Explaining the public excitement around the new boardwalk, British Land Development Executive Michael Delfs shares, “It’s the first time people can really see Canada Water changing in front of them.”

While this is one of the first visible signs of change in the area — which sits conveniently on the intersection of Jubilee and Windrush (Overground) lines, just a few minutes ride from London’s key businesses hubs and residential areas — both Art-Invest Real Estate and British Land have already spent years working closely with Canada Water’s existing communities to shape a future for both the 53-acre masterplan and neighbouring Dockside development that encompasses essential amenities, new opportunities for education and employment, life-enhancing leisure facilities and culturally enriching entertainment and nightlife destinations.

Delfs explains that British Land has continually examined what contributes to successful, meaningful urban regeneration, while focusing on the preservation of local history, character and biodiversity. He shares, “We’ve asked ourselves what can we bring as a new piece of city that maybe doesn’t exist yet and is genuinely innovative and new, and we think that comes from the intimate integration of a new urban neighbourhood with nature, culture and sports.”

Over the next twelve years, the all-electric Canada Water masterplan will deliver a new high street and town square, up to 3,000 new highly sustainable carbon homes,2 million sq ft of workspace, and 1 million sq ft of leisure, retail and cultural space. There will be a new leisure centre, and 35% of the masterplan will be public open space, which means 12extra acres of public realm across the masterplan, within close reach of Dockside’s own workspace buildings. Aside from the much-discussed benefits of access to additional green space, the 2 million sq ft of workspace being built by British Land will offer opportunities for businesses based at Dockside to expand rapidly, and in close proximity, as their teams grow.

British Land and Art-Invest Real Estate’s shared commitments to sustainability and wellbeing will result in the emergence of a future for Dockside and Canada Water’s businesses, workers that is anchored in a holistic approach to work and play, with unique opportunities to take part in leisure activities both on land and on the local waterways, safer and more integrated ways to add active commuting to daily routines and on-the-doorstep access to one of London’s most celebrated nightlife and music venues, Printworks.

Located at the heart of the Canada Water masterplan, within western Europe’s former largest print facility, where The Evening Standard, Metro and other newspapers rolled off its presses, Printworks first opened as a music venue in 2017. It quickly gained recognition as a leading nightlife destination and was listed among the best venues in the world by the time it closed its doors in 2023. Having already hosted more than 300 concerts, welcoming international artists including the Chemical Brothers, Deadmau5, Bicep, Aphex Twin and many more — as well as 200 film shoots and other events including immersive opera from the BBC Proms — Printworks is set to reopen its doors in 2027.

Spotlighting the positive impact on the local community a destination such as Printworks brings, Delfs states, “Having culture for us is both Printworks and all of the things that will flow out of Printworks; the things that will be integrated throughout the rest of the town centre, such as performance spaces, music spaces, art spaces. It’s about having culture that you can interact with and have ecstatic experiences.”

Learn more about Dockside Canada Water here, and read more about the synergy between Dockside and the Canada Water masterplan here.