South East England Development Agency (SEEDA)

The Woolston Riverside development will transform a redundant shipbuilding facility in Southampton into a vibrant, thriving and sustainable, mixed-use waterfront area with marine business park, high quality housing, retail, leisure and community facilities. The site will be opened up to the public for the first time in over a century and will contribute positively to the physical, economic and social regeneration of the locality.

Southampton is the largest city in South East England and benefits from excellent national and international communication links. The city has a strong maritime heritage and has developed a world-class reputation for marine engineering and technology. The area is a world famous yachting venue and every year in September, the city hosts the largest UK on-water boat show.

SEEDA's Investment
SEEDA acquired the Woolston Riverside development from Vosper Thornycroft (UK) Ltd (VT) in March 2003. The Agency's strategic aim is to regenerate this substantial brownfield site and turn it into a catalyst for employment, housing, industry and marine related businesses.

Working closely with Southampton City Council, SEEDA envisages that the site will become a complementary extension to the existing district centre of Woolston, allowing the industrial economy to flourish through the refurbishment of the deep water quayside and also providing accessibility to the waterfront for the public, both in terms of a riverside walk and also a new public space by the river. Woolston, will through this site, establish itself as one of the key landmarks along Southampton's riverbanks.

In October 2003, SEEDA appointed, internationally renowned architectural practice, the Richard Rogers Partnership (RRP) as their chosen design team to prepare a masterplan for the development of the site. With a wide range of experience in masterplanning projects throughout Europe and China, RRP worked with the Agency to produce and test development concepts to create an overall vision for the site.

Site History
In the mid 18 th Century, the site and its surroundings were still very rural. Shipbuilding has been undertaken since the mid 19th Century. From June 1904 until 2004, VT occupied the site as a shipyard. It was in 2004 that VT moved the last of its operations from Woolston to their new Portsmouth Shipbuilding Facility. Most of the large boatbuilding sheds that were left on the site dated from the 1960s to the 1990s.

SEEDA began the demolition of the redundant buildings in April 2004. With work almost complete, the Agency is now securing development partners for the residential and commercial phases of the site.

Development

Marine Development - In 2006, Dean and Dyball were selected as the preferred developers to build out 4 ha (9.92 acres) of the site allocated for marine and commercial uses. This area of the site presents a unique opportunity to maximise the potential of the proximity to the River Itchen, Southampton Water and the Solent as well as the existing quays that provide permanent access to deepwater access and berthing.

The proposals for the site include four key elements to optimise the use of the deepwater basins and support the associated shoreside commercial activity:

• North Quay – specialist working quay for repair and refit of vessels up to 75m
• Centenary Quay – main commercial quayside housing vessels up to 76m.
• Central Basin – working area focused around a large hoist dock or lift with associated pontoon berthing.
• South Quay – new pier to accommodate feature vessels up to 65m.

The shoreside area will have the potential to provide up to 46,500 sq m of floorspace to house boatsheds, associated offices and workshop facilities.

Residential Development – In 2006, Crest Nicholson Regeneration were selected as the preferred developers to bring forward the residential and retail part of the site. Crest is an experienced residential and mixed use developer whose emphasis is on creating vibrant and sustainable mixed used schemes.

Resolution to grant outline planning consent for the scheme was approved in summer 2006. Crest and Dean & Dyball have since been working together to produce detailed plans for the comprehensive redevelopment of this site which will be submitted to Southampton City Council planning department later in 2007.

View Publications:
(Adobe Acrobat PDF unless otherwise stated, PDF help).
Woolston Riverside Brochure (1.91Mb)
Woolston Riverside Marine Brochure (882Kb)
Woolston Riverside Newsletter 1 (322Kb)
Woolston Riverside Newsletter 2 (387Kb)
Woolston Riverside Newsletter 3 (894Kb)
Woolston Riverside Newsletter 4 (866Kb)
Woolston Riverside Newsletter 5 (3.10Mb)