Royal Albert Dock, London
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The Royal Albert Dock is one of three docks in the Royal Group of Docks of East
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
.


History


19th century – establishment

The dock, which was designed by Sir Alexander Rendel as an extension to the Victoria Dock, was constructed by
Lucas and Aird Lucas and Aird was a major civil engineering business operating in the 19th century. History The business was formed as a joint venture between Lucas Brothers and John Aird & Co. in 1870. The joint venture was dissolved in 1896. Major projects ...
and completed in 1880. Two dry docks and machine shops were established to the south at the western end for ship repairs by R & H Green & Silley Weir (later River Thames Shiprepairs Ltd).


Late 20th century – decline and limited redevelopment

From the 1960s onwards, the Royal Albert Dock experienced a steady decline – as did all of London's other docks – as the shipping industry adopted
containerisation Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers (also called shipping containers, or ISO containers). Containerization, also referred as container stuffing or container loading, is the process of uni ...
, which effectively moved traffic downstream to
Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a Tilbury Fort, 16th century fort ...
. It finally closed to commercial traffic along with the other Royal Docks in 1981. Redevelopment in the late 20th century included the construction of
London City Airport London City Airport is an international airport in London, England. It is located in the Royal Docks in the London Borough of Newham, Borough of Newham, about east of the City of London and east of Canary Wharf. These are the two centres ...
which was built on the south bank of the dock with a single runway and completed in 1987. At the eastern end of the north bank the University of East London Docklands Campus opened in 1999. Redevelopment also included the
London Regatta Centre London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
which was built at the western end of the north bank and opened in 2000. In the early 20th century 'Building 1000' was built on the north bank of the dock at a cost of £70 million and was completed in 2004.


Early 21st century

;Failed redevelopment (2013–2023) In May 2013, the
Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...
,
Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...
, announced a development of the Royal Albert Dock, claimed to be worth £6 billion to the capital's economy and creating over 20,000 jobs. The developer was to be Shanghai-based ABP (Advanced Business Park), with CITIC Construction assigned as main contractor, and
Multiplex Multiplex may refer to: Science and technology * Multiplex communication, combining many signals into one transmission circuit or channel ** Multiplex (television), a group of digital television or radio channels that are combined for broadcast * ...
assigned as principal sub-contractor. Boris Johnson promised that the development would be the "next Canary Wharf", serving as a gateway for Asian and Chinese businesses, creating 20,000 jobs and adding £6 billion to the UK economy. Johnson named the main road serving the development "Mandarin Street" to attract Chinese businesses. Construction officially began in June 2017. Phase 1 of the project was completed in the first quarter of 2018, consisting of 21 buildings with 460,000 sq ft of office space and 140,000 sq ft of retail and public realm. Phase 2 was designed to begin late 2020, consisting of further office and retail spaces, along with residential units and membership clubs. However, in February 2022, unable to live up to Boris Johnson's promises, the business park was instead described as a half finished, abandoned and mostly empty "ghost town" and
white elephant A white elephant is a possession that its owner cannot dispose of without extreme difficulty, and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness. In modern usage, it is a metaphor used to describe an object, ...
with less than 10% of units ever being occupied. It has become a favoured
filming location A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, instead of or in addition to using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage. In filmmaking, a location is any place where a film crew wi ...
"because there are never any people around". The Financial Times suggested in early 2022 that, "the Albert Dock development owned by Beijing-based Advanced Business Park, is on the brink of collapse after creditors appointed administrators to recover unpaid debts". ;Renewed redevelopment (2024–present) In July 2022,
PwC PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a Multinational corporation, multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Fo ...
was appointed as liquidator to 23 companies within the ABP Group and the development was subsequently sold to property firm DPK led by armature jockey David Maxwell. In February 2024, it was revealed that two of the blocks would be converted into student accommodation, with the remaining blocks being repurposed for office, research, healthcare and educational uses. Thirty acres of derelict land adjacent to the scheme remains in GLA ownership.


See also

* Albert Dock Seamen's Hospital


References

{{Authority control Transport infrastructure completed in 1880 Infrastructure in London Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Newham Geography of the London Borough of Newham London docks Port of London Office buildings in London