We have been appointed alongside Haptic Architects and a multidisciplinary team to explore Floating Residential at Royal Victoria Dock West.

Over the next nine months, we’ll help develop proposals for floating homes, residential moorings and shared community infrastructure — considering how this first phase could support a welcoming, inclusive and climate-resilient waterside neighbourhood.

Local voices will be central to the process, with the first round of public engagement taking place this October.

Scott Derben, Managing Director of Royal Docks Waterways, said: “We were impressed by the way Haptic Architects, Gort Scott and the wider team approached this project. They are well placed to help us to understand whether and how to take forward a first phase of Floating Residential. And they’ve also identified how this project is a catalyst for the holistic improvement of all of Royal Victoria Dock West – carefully balancing public good with private investment to deliver London’s most welcoming, open and vibrant water-place. We’re looking forward to working with the team over the coming months to bring that thinking to life.”

Client: Royal Docks Waterways
Lead, Architect, Client Design Advisor: Haptic Architects
Architect and Principal Designer: Gort Scott
Business Case and QS: Stace
Commerical Advisor: Oakridge
M&E and Sustainability: Max Fordham
Structures, Civils and Marine Engineering: Price and Myers
Planning: Newmark
Engagement: Make:Good

Image: Royal Docks Waterways
 

Silver Street public toilets in Cambridge’s historic city centre have been officially opened to the public by the Mayor of Cambridge, Cllr Maria Cleminson, and the Leader of Cambridge City Council, Cllr Katie Thornburrow.

Gort Scott was commissioned by Cambridge City Council to refurbish and partially replace the existing Silver Street public toilets in Cambridge. The facilities, located largely beneath the street at river level, had previously been closed to the public due to maintenance issues and poor, congested access. 

Silver Street Bridge, opposite Queens’ College and overlooking the Mill Pond, is a listed location which attracts many visitors to the city, and the new toilets have been carefully designed to meet the needs of many thousands of international visitors each year and to fit in seamlessly with their historic surroundings.

Cllr Martin Smart, Cabinet Member for Nature, Open Space and City Services, said: 
“The new Silver Street toilets really enhance the cityscape in this historic and much-visited part of the city, and will provide a modern, well-managed facility for thousands of the visitors we welcome to Cambridge each year. The design prioritises safety, accessibility, and user confidence in its busy city-centre setting and demonstrates how high-quality contemporary design can successfully integrate with a sensitive historic setting while delivering lasting civic, environmental, and social value.”

The Old Oak Masterplan Framework has been shortlisted for this year’s NLA Awards in the Neighbourhoods & Masterplans ‘Unbuilt’ category.

Old Oak presents a unique opportunity for exemplary city-making at the strategic intersection of the Elizabeth Line and HS2, creating a major new urban district of local and national significance.

With connections extending across London, the UK and beyond, it is set to become a vital part of the capital’s future growth. Spanning the boroughs of Ealing, Brent and Hammersmith & Fulham, the district encompasses the area adjacent to the future Old Oak Common Station, from Harlesden to North Acton.

Approximately 8,000 new homes (including affordable) and 200,000sqm of commercial and community space will be delivered alongside new parks and green spaces, enhanced connectivity, and social infrastructure including a new primary school, leisure centre, nurseries, and cultural and community spaces. A series of distinctive neighbourhoods, varying in scale and character, will be carefully integrated into the wider context, connecting with Park Royal’s industrial heartland and Creative Enterprise Zone, Wormwood Scrubs and the Grand Union Canal.

A team led by Gort Scott, with Allies and Morrison and Periscope, has developed a Masterplan Framework for Old Oak that sets out a vision and guiding principles for a sustainable and inclusive new urban district. The framework establishes two distinct yet interconnected neighbourhoods: the residential-led Canalside Neighbourhood, supporting active and healthy lifestyles along the Grand Union Canal, and the Old Oak Town Centre, a major new town centre and hub of industrial innovation, strategically positioned along the WestTech London innovation corridor. Together, they create the foundations for a new piece of city that builds on the area’s rich industrial and cultural heritage.

The Old Oak Mile, the masterplan’s central spine, threads through these neighbourhoods, building on London’s tradition of mixed-use streets and shared public spaces. Framed by the distinctive character of the canal and two new urban centres, these neighbourhoods will provide safe, welcoming streets, green spaces and new and enhanced routes for walking and cycling, creating one connected place guided by ongoing collaboration with residents and stakeholders.

New parks and green spaces will form a connected green network across Old Oak, linking and enhancing existing biodiverse corridors while creating accessible, nature-rich spaces for people and wildlife. The framework is supported by an integrated sustainability strategy, developed by Expedition Engineering, which adopts an ambitious and holistic approach to social, economic and environmental sustainability. Designed for long-term climate resilience, Old Oak aims to become a landmark zero-carbon regeneration project.

We have produced an in-house guidance suite that distils our philosophy, tools, best practice tips and hurdles into eight Green Guides. These span from start to completion (from briefing to post-occupancy evaluation (POE)) and cover the six themes key to our work:

- Operational Energy
- Embodied Carbon and Retrofit
- Circularity and Deconstruction
- Designing for People (Community, Wellbeing and Social Value)
- Designing for Nature (Biodiversity, Green and Blue Infrastructure)
- Climate Change and Resilience

Together with our existing Sustainable Design Roadmap and project-specific Sustainable Design Trackers, these form a simple and caring framework for our practice as a whole, individual projects, and each conversation on the way.

We believe that talking early and talking often about environmental impact is the key to sustainable outcomes. These ever-evolving guides structure everything from internal training to external briefing, so we can all act as one to make resilient and future-ready places.