PRINTWORKS

PRINTWORKS, Amelia St, Walworth

164 flats over 9 storeys (on the site of the old HMSO printing works on Amelia St). The Amelia Street site is a being developed by English Partnerships with First Base.

Finished 2010. More ridiculous hype can be found on the website. A flavour can be had here:  ‘The Elephant will follow Clerkenwell, Soho and Notting Hill as a place where vibrant new ideas express themselves and become part of what makes London the world’s most dynamic city. It all stems from the principles First Base and their partners Lend Lease are developing in their regeneration proposals to transform the area with around £1.5bn of investment over the next ten years.”  Or this ‘New and exotic types of food can be bought alongside delicacies and remedies from London’s oldest health food shop’. We always wonder if they don’t get out much this blurb writers when they use ‘exotic’ to mean either African, Asian or South American local shops. I mean how long has London been a great home to people from all over now?

More bonkers spiel:  “This major redevelopment will transform the appearance of Elephant & Castle…Divided into “villages” that reflect the needs and concerns of today, such as eco and ethics, health and wellbeing, food and feasting, lifestyle and furnishing, its stores and stalls will reflect both London’s diversity as well as the varied needs of its individual inhabitants – and beyond that, their aspirations…Here, individuals can choose how they lead their lives and have a stake in their community and neighbourhood. Its design allows them to control how they engage with it, whether they choose to take advantage of its formal or informal educational opportunities, to pamper themselves, relax in its public spaces, or remain in the privacy of their homes‘. What does any of the above mean? Do you know? Quite frankly these people have lost their marbles…or sold them to the highest bidder!!

March 2o11: One bedroom flat in Printworks: £265,000. A sign on the Printworks sales suite now reads 85% sold. The original planning permission was granted on the fact of Printworks being for Keyworkers. Now the developers are trying to use the 15% unsold to the requirement that it houses keyworkers. What a scam! 19 flats remain unsold since the launch in September 2010.