Arada files first plans for £2.5bn Thameside West scheme

Developer Arada has submitted a series of planning applications to the London Borough of Newham for Thameside West, a £2.5bn scheme on 47 acres between the Thames and the Royal Docks in east London.

The applications detail the first phase of the masterplan: 1,500 homes across six buildings. The full build-out will deliver at least 5,000 new homes on the site.

A seven-acre park sits at the heart of the proposals, alongside around 1,000 new trees, which Arada says will create a greener, more biodiverse environment for residents and the wider community.

Ahmed Alkhoshaibi, Group CEO of Arada, framed the project as a landmark regeneration opportunity for the capital.

"Thameside West is a landscape-led masterplan, composed by nature, open to all and made for London," Alkhoshaibi said. "This is London's next social gateway: a new riverfront neighbourhood inspired by the future, where local life meets global ambition once again and where homes, wellness, water, culture and community are connected by design."

He put the scale of the opportunity in concrete terms. "This is one of London's most significant remaining riverfront regeneration opportunities – more than 5,000 homes, over one kilometre of river frontage and over six hectares of publicly accessible amenity. We have the ambition to create more than a new residential district."

Arada positions the development as integrated into the city rather than set apart from it. "Thameside West is planned as a neighbourhood within the city, not an enclave at its edge: a new piece of East London where the quality of everyday London life comes first," the developer said.

Architecture firm Gensler, consultant Arup and landscape architects Planit are advising on the scheme.

The applications now sit with Newham planners. Their determination will set the pace for one of the largest riverfront housing schemes in the capital.