Context | Royal Albert Docks R

Economic and Social Context of South Newham

29.7%

14,598 people in the area out of a total population of 49,077 (29.7%) are aged between 16-29. There is evidently huge pressure on the job market, due to high volume of individuals searching for their first career. There is also pressure on the housing market to provide affordable homes for these younger individuals

47.4%

High percentage of the local population who were born outside of the UK (47.4%). There will evidently be a huge range of cultures and languages spoken among locals, therefore positively contributing to a sense of diverse community

29.2%

The proportion of one person households is fairly high (29.2%), exceeding the London average. In order to create the most ideal housing situations for communities there should be a range in housing type mix. This current lack of mix may cause issues with isolation for some individuals

There is an average density of 30 people per hectare for the area surrounding the Docklands, which is extremely low compared to the rest of London. A large scale development would evidently hugely increase, and for example questions may arise whether the current transport systems would be able to cope with this huge increase

39.7%

Fairly high levels of economic inactivity in the area surrounding the Docks (39.7%). This provides significant evidence towards the need for improving the economy, through investment and subsequent creation of jobs, etc in order to re-boost the economy

34%

High levels of child poverty in South Newham (34%) potentially indicates there are many economically struggling families. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact reasoning for this, however it may be associated with either unemployment or lower incomes. This is a potentially challenging point to overcome for the area.

South Newham

This area of Newham borough outlined in red is the area that was used above for the economic and social context. All figures are calculated from London LSOA Atlas.

This data source splits the large area into 26 smaller zones and provides individual figures for each sub-zone, so averages have been taken from all of these accumulated areas to allow us to accurately represent the whole context area.

All figures used above were recorded in 2011, so this may mean slight inaccuracy due to changes that have occurred since then, however it still provides a close estimate

Heritage Context

There are 4 main buildings of specific local and historic interest that make up the relevant heritage context of the area. Heritage context is crucial to consider when planning for any place. A map of the buildings locations has also been provided below

Compressor House

Built in 1914 as a refrigeration facility specifically designed for meats, which meant that the building had a specially designed roof which was pumped with water to aid cold storage. Later it became disused in the 1970s as a result of relocation of industry, however it remained dormant for some time due to issues with the structure and the need for new roofing. The building has since been set up as an events space mostly which hosted the opening event in 2019, allowing the local 'landmark to be showcased’ (RAD, 2019) and offered an opportunity for local residents and visitors to learn about the history of the Docks. Blue mark on map below

Pumping Station

Key infrastructure originally built in 1912 that served the purpose of maintaining the water level of the Royal Albert Dock by controlling water flowing in and out of the Thames. Despite many changes that the pumps have undergone, today the building still carries out the same function. The operation and maintenance is leased to and managed by the Royal Docks Management Authority (RoDMA) currently and is owned by the London Development Agency (LDA). The exterior and interior of the building has remained largely the same, only the operations of the pumps advancing and changing overtime. Yellow mark on map below

Dock Managers Office and Central Buffet Building

Originally both built in 1883 and designed by architects Vigers and Wagstaffe, and are currently owned by the London Development Agency (LDA). Emergency repairs have had to be carried out on the grade II listed buildings. Both are considered to have historical significance due to the rare methods of construction used in relation to internal features such as wooden beams and the panels of the exterior walls. There are currently some on-going debates about the potential uses for these two buildings as is discussed in the 'Regeneration in the Docks' section of our site. Red mark on map below