Welcome to the ‘Virtual Exhibition’ on the future of Republic. This includes:

• Our Vision for Republic
• Details on our proposals
• Opportunities to share your feedback

We would love to hear your feedback on our proposals. We will be gathering views until the 1st of August 2021 – online through this website and in person as Covid restrictions ease.

Republic are proud to have delivered a unique and flourishing city campus – bringing together higher education institutions, co-working space, local and national businesses and community organisations. Looking to the future, we want to breathe even more life into Republic.

Our vision is to make a place that people will love to live, socialise, collaborate and thrive in - a dynamic campus which fosters a sense of belonging as well as enterprise.

We want to create:

A high-quality residential building providing 169 new homes

A new student accommodation building with 716 rooms on site

A new data centre improving digital capacity

An extension to the public realm including play facilities and public green space

Flexible community space for use by local organisations

Flexible office space for start-ups and small businesses

We want to breathe even more life into Republic – enabling people to live here – as well as working, learning and socialising.

A mix of new homes

We are proposing to build a new residential building which will create around 170 new homes over 31 stories. Designed by an award-winning team with a track record of delivery in Tower Hamlets, the building will be a mix of apartments from 1 to 4 bedrooms. These homes will feature high-quality design with natural light. 35% of the homes will be at affordable rent levels.

Student accommodation

In addition to the new homes, we also want to create a building for student accommodation, providing around 700 quality student bedrooms over 36 stories. We are talking with London and national universities to agree on the future management of the accommodation and again 35% will be affordable.

Design

The two buildings have been designed to complement and link to their surroundings - including the Blackwall cluster of tall buildings, the listed dock wall and the nearby River Thames.

We want Republic to help grow the local economy by creating more affordable office space through a standalone building called ‘Republic Studios’. This 4,000sqm of workspace is designed to be flexible, so that any size of local business can make a home here: from individuals with a dream, to businesses coveting their own space. It will nurture start-ups, project teams and small businesses. We want to create a space that cultivates an entrepreneurial spirit – and nurtures wildlife through verdant roof gardens.

Our proposals also include a dedicated space for use by the local community. Republic’s community area will be a dedicated space for hire for use by local groups to collaborate and flourish – great for art exhibitions, workshops, support groups, or a meeting room for local groups.

We'd love to hear your ideas on how you'd like to see this space used.

We are also proposing a new state-of-the-art data centre to increase connectivity and data capacity.

A data centre is a large group of computer systems networked together that is used for storing, processing and distributing large amounts of data. Demand for data centres has grown rapidly in recent years, especially during the pandemic. This has been driven by the demand for online services, remote working and our use of social media.

Republic is right next to the main international fibre routes, making it a brilliant location to provide a high-speed and steady data connection.

We want our new data centre to be as sustainable as possible. We are investigating using the heat energy produced by the computer systems in the data centre to provide a low-temperature heating network for the whole Republic campus.

The first stage of the Republic masterplan has already delivered significant public realm improvements. These included pedestrian routes, increased green space and the creation of the Water Gardens.

The next stage of our masterplan will further extend and improve the public realm. We will use the historic dock wall to create a unique walled garden in between the buildings - an oasis of trees, meadows and undulating lawns. We’ll put in more play provision – for all ages – including a permanent sandpit and seating by the lake. We’ll extend the green areas beyond the wall – whilst weaving in possible space for a food market and seating.

Through it all, we will focus on creating new pedestrian walkways and increasing biodiversity. We will use planting to foster wildlife and help filter and clean the air.

We want to create an environment where people will be able to spend time, relax, and socialise– a mini parkland cocooned from the surrounding roads.

We would love to hear your thoughts on our proposals for the public realm, as well as suggestions for things you would like to see here.

The masterplan for Republic in 2015 set out to create a mixed-use innovation district filled with cutting edge workspaces and attractive new amenities. The first stage of this plan is now complete with the successful transformation of the Import and Export buildings – and the creative campus of Republic was born.

As you’ve just read, we now want to embark on the next phase of the masterplan – and bring in high-quality residential homes and student accommodation to breathe life and vibrancy to our campus. We want to see people living, relaxing and spending time here – as well as working and learning.

We believe that our proposals for the future of Republic will provide a positive contribution to the changing character of the Docklands area. We would love to hear any final thoughts you have on the plans.