Sustainable Practices in the Redevelopment of Canary Wharf Research Paper

Sustainable Practices in the Redevelopment of Canary Wharf - Research Paper Example This paper will highlight the success of the Canary Wharf regeneration or redevelopment based on reviews and analysis through use of sustainable design. As an aspiring architect, carrying out further research on the sustainability of Canary Wharf as a major development project will guide me as well as fellow learners about the importance of sustainability and innovating in design to achieve it. Summary Canary Wharf, a marshland located in the Isle of Dogs in Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London used to be one of the busiest ports in the world since it opened as West India Docks 1802. Its peak was seen from the 1930s when the Port of London carried about 35 million tons of cargo carried by some 55 thousand ships until its peak in 1961 when it handled about 60 million tons of cargo. The decline of the port industry in the 1950s led to its closing in 1970s. It has undertaken several seemingly insurmountable steps and processes since then to replace its glory days. Today, it is a majo r business district of about 1.3 million square metres of offices and retail space (Canary Wharf Group, 2012). Introduction Redevelopment projects are usually major challenges for built environment industries including the designers and architects in a given team. The many factors that redevelopments consider are double against new developments: temporary relocation and displacement of residents and workers in the given area, the disruption of economic, social, and other activities, addressing decay, re-design in consideration of history and the tradition of the people in the given area, funding and other requirements, regulation and governance, and external factors that may be adversely affected by the project. The major obstacles to the redevelopment of the Canary Wharf have been many and its success owed much to the various architectural feats implemented. The design and architectural approaches that need to address the challenges motivated me to research using secondary data (me thodology) and provide a report on the Canary Wharf redevelopment. Discussion Canary Wharf Canary Wharf was became a high concern after the closure of the docks due to its economic impact. Secretary of State for the Environment Peter Walker assigned consultants Travers Morgan to undertake as study of the Thames-side area between London Docks and Barking Creek and the consultants proposed in January 1973 a wide range of options which did not prosper. By 1976, the Docklands Joint Committee or DJC created the London Docklands Strategic Plan or LDSP. Redevelopment, however, can be traced from the creation of the London Docklands Development Corporation by the local Government Planning and Land Act 1980. By 1982, the Isle of the Dogs became an Enterprise Zone that offered tax breaks for developers and investors within a ten-year life cycle. In 1988 when then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher launched the Canary Wharf construction project, it was considered one of the world’s larges t developments. As a major project, Canary Wharf met a lot of challenges including perception that â€Å"Large projects are liable to focus benefits on relatively few individuals, and impose costs over a wide group whose members each have relatively little to lose,† Hall (1981, 15). Redevelopment was led by Canadian developer Paul Reichmann (LDDC, 2009) through the Canadian the Olympia & York- an international property development firm. Tax breaks provided by government to regenerate the rundown areas was provided them and they bought the