Saffron Square (formerly known as Wellesley Square) is a town square and high-rise building in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The purple and red Saffron Tower is currently the second-tallest building in Croydon. Saffron Square is part of the Croydon Vision 2020 regeneration plan for the

London Borough of Croydon The London Borough of Croydon () is a London borough in south London, part of Outer London. It covers an area of . It is the southernmost borough of London. At its centre is the historic town of Croydon from which the borough takes its name; ...

to add to its goal of being ''London's Third City''. The area was developed by

Berkeley Homes The Berkeley Group Holdings plc is a British property developer and house-builder based in Cobham, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History The company was founded by Tony Pidg ...

. Planning permission for the tower was given in April 2008, and construction began in 2011, with completion in 2016.

History

In the mid-2000s, the development of

tall buildings A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ri ...

was being encouraged in the

London Plan The London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Greater London area in the United Kingdom that is written by the Mayor of London and published by the Greater London Authority. The regional planning document was first pu ...

, which would lead to the erection of new skyscrapers over the next few years as London went through a high-rise boom. By 2008, the site, on main Croydon thoroughfare

Wellesley Road Croydon is a large town in South London, south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts i ...

, had lain fallow for over ten years. The project aimed to start in 2008 with completion in 2012, however, construction started in 2011. By June 2013, the tower's construction was well underway with its final completion expected in 2015. As of early 2014, a large part of the project had been completed. Upon completion, Saffron Square would be the tallest residential tower in Croydon, with 414 private apartments and penthouses. Saffron Tower was nominated for the 2016

Carbuncle Cup The Carbuncle Cup was an architecture prize, given annually by the magazine ''Building Design'' to "the ugliest building in the United Kingdom completed in the last 12 months". It was intended to be a humorous response to the prestigious Stirlin ...

for the ugliest building of the previous 12 months, but the award went to Lincoln Plaza in Docklands.

Plans

Berkeley Homes' proposals for this key northern gateway site include, but are not limited to: *A new town square accessible to all and integral to the design. Offering a public environment to the large number of people who work in Croydon. *A 43-storey tower incorporating a light feature to the Croydon skyline. *Approximately 800 new homes, a proportion of which will be for affordable/key worker housing. 10% will be for shared ownership housing. *3,000 m² of retail floorspace including shops, restaurants and cafés surrounding the public square. *Sustainable initiatives to minimise the scheme's impact on the environment. A significant proportion of the site's energy requirements will be met by on site renewable energy sources. *Creation of improved permeability and safeguarding of future pedestrian links between East and

West Croydon station West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

References

External links

Berkeley Homes: Saffron Sq
- Berkeley's official website {{Major Development Projects in London Croydon 2020 Buildings and structures under construction in the United Kingdom Leisure in the London Borough of Croydon Squares in the London Borough of Croydon Proposed skyscrapers in London

History

Plans

See also

References

External links