FAQ

1. What are the proposals for the redevelopment of Elizabeth House, Waterloo?

As long-term owners of Elizabeth House we are committed to deliver and manage an exceptional new building for Waterloo. In the heart of London and just a stone’s throw away from the city’s most iconic attractions, this new work and leisure space will respond to the changing needs of the neighbourhood, by creating new public spaces, alleviating capacity pressure around London Waterloo Station and welcoming exciting new businesses to the area.

Our proposals are to:

Demolish the existing Elizabeth House and replace it with a state-of-the-art new building, which will be known as One Waterloo.
Provide much-needed capacity relief at Waterloo Station, the capital’s busiest rail hub, by removing the existing Elizabeth House which blocks new entrances being created.
Deliver 1.3 million sq ft of flexible and sustainable retail and workspace within three interconnected buildings, supporting approximately 11,000 new jobs.
Create Victory Arch Square, a new public space that enables step-free access from the South Bank to Waterloo Station.
Create a vibrant new all-day retail destination named ‘The Curve’ – a pedestrianised street lined with shops and cafes, for the currently unused space between Elizabeth House and the former Waterloo International Terminal.
Enhance the pedestrian and commuter experience at Waterloo Station, through the creation of a scenic ‘green promenade’, an elevated, 200m long garden where people can stroll and relax, which will also enable direct access to One Waterloo from the concourse.
Attract a diverse range of businesses and sectors by providing a variety of smart and multi-purpose workspaces, from managed flexible spaces to dedicated affordable workspace, enabling them to thrive.
Provide sustainable workspaces, striving for net zero carbon operations.
Create lush, natural terraces and optimised coworking spaces, intended to boost wellbeing and enhance productivity, while alleviating pressure on local amenity space in the area.
Enable active commuter lifestyles through the provision of 2,300 cycle spaces, 180 showers and 2,500 lockers

Together these changes will facilitate desperately needed new access routes into Waterloo Station, the UK’s busiest train station with 100 million entries and exits each year and provide the ability for further growth in passenger numbers as this rises to 130 million annually over the next five years.

2. What are the benefits for local people?

HB Reavis has agreed with Lambeth Council to provide a £100m package of public benefits as part of this scheme. This will include over £33m of affordable workspace memberships for local entrepreneurs and start-ups, as well as a tailored local employment and skills strategy.

We will be delivering an enhanced public realm through the new development, creating two new public squares, Victory Arch Square and the unique covered Waterloo Square (c.9000 sq ft), where people will be able to meet and socialise.

We are creating a vibrant new retail destination named ‘The Curve,’ a pedestrianised street lined with shops and cafés where locals and visitors can enjoy all-day dining and shopping.

A publicly accessible 200 metre long garden promenade, elevated two floors above street level, will provide a scenic and relaxing space to walk within the station complex.

Our plans will also provide a package of improvements for Network Rail, landscaping and accessibility improvements for The Sidings (the former Waterloo International Terminal) and contribute towards step-free access to the London Underground station at Waterloo, providing improved accessible routes to the Underground network.

3. Have you secured a planning consent for the scheme?

HB Reavis has gained full planning consent for the redevelopment of Elizabeth House.

On 15 October 2019, Lambeth Council’s Planning Applications Committee unanimously voted in favour of the proposals and final consent was granted in February 2021 with the signing of the Section 106 Agreement.

We are continuing to work through third party agreements which need to be in place before major works can begin. Subject to consents being received, we look forward to starting construction work as soon as possible.

4. What consultation did you undertake on the plans?

A comprehensive programme of engagement with the local community and key stakeholders took place throughout 2018 and into 2019, which helped inform the final proposals that were submitted in the summer of 2019.

The engagement programme was made up of four distinct phases:

Phase 1 – Introductory meetings with key stakeholders (July 2017 – June 2018).

Phase 2 – Introducing early concepts for the site (June – July 2018).

Phase 3 – Public exhibition and presentations on emerging proposals (July –November 2018)

Phase 4 – Public exhibition on detailed designs and follow-up meetings (December 2018 – submission)

Full details of this consultation process and a summary of the feedback received can be found in the Statement of Community Involvement that was submitted with the application.

5. How long will the project take to complete and when will work begin?

Once third party legal and development agreements are concluded, we look forward to starting construction work as soon as possible. Once works commence, the construction programme is expected to take approximately five years.

6. How can I find out more about the programme of works you are undertaking?

Stay tuned as we will be keeping this website elizabethhousewaterloo.co.uk updated regularly with the latest news on the development works.

As we approach key milestones, we will be issuing regular community newsletters, setting out key progress updates, upcoming activities. In the lead up to key construction milestones, we will also host local drop in sessions to meet the team, which will be well publicised locally.

Click here to join the mailing list or ask us a question about the project.

7. Who will be delivering the construction works?

HB Reavis takes an integrated approach to development, meaning that we manage the construction process in-house. HB Reavis will develop the scheme, in line with our integrated delivery model through all stages of One Waterloo’s design, development, construction, customer-focused workspace services and asset management for the entire building lifecycle.

8. What are the working hours for the site?

These are to be agreed with Lambeth but would typically be 08:00 to 18:00 Monday to Friday and 08:00 to 13:00 on Saturdays.

9. What will you do to minimise dust and noise during construction?

A dust, noise and vibration management plan has been agreed with Lambeth Council to monitor and minimise impacts during the duration of the project.

In addition, all construction works will be limited to a strict set of working hours.

Any particularly noisy works will be kept to a set of even more limited hours, to ensure that they happen for only a few hours a day and done at a time which causes the least disruption to local people.

10. When will new occupiers move in?

We are expecting a construction timetable of approximately 5 years from the start of site works. When complete One Waterloo will be home to a diverse ecosystem of office and retail occupiers. The Curve pedestrianised retail street will be home to exciting new shops, restaurants and cafes whilst in the floors above the 1.2 million square feet of workspace will be home to a diverse ecosystem of occupiers, from start-ups and scale-ups through to large organisations.

11. How will One Waterloo be financed?

HB Reavis is exploring a range of funding options to support the delivery of the 1.3 million sq ft development.

12. What are you doing to improve the pedestrian experience around the area?

The pedestrian experience is based on 3 core pillars; permeability, safety and accessibility, all of which inherent to the scheme’s design.

We spent a long time considering this based on analysis of the pedestrian flows around the site, the changing context of the area and the new developments being delivered around Elizabeth House.

In line with the aspirations of Lambeth Council, the GLA, TfL and adjoining landowners, our strategy focuses on transforming the pedestrian experience around the site by bringing pedestrians to ground level and spreading the flow of people across a much larger area, reducing congestion at existing pinch points such as at the Victory Arch entrance.

We are creating three brand new spaces of public realm that will also improve flow and permeability through London Waterloo Station. This includes:

The Curve – A new pedestrianised street created between London Waterloo Station and One Waterloo will be a new destination for retail and leisure experiences with circa 90,000 sq ft of retail space.
Victory Arch Square – A 9,400 sq ft public space outside London Waterloo Station’s main entrance, enabling step-free access from the South Bank to London Waterloo Station and welcoming access into The Curve.
Waterloo Square – In the heart of the scheme, this new, covered 9,000 sq ft square at street level will transform the site’s permeability: connecting London Waterloo Station to The Curve through to York Road and beyond to South Bank and Westminster. At its widest point, Waterloo Square is 22 metres wide.

In addition, The Promenade will be a a 200 metre long (almost acre!) garden, directly accessible from London Waterloo Station’s concourse level. The Promenade is elevated two storeys above street level and will house the three main lobby entrances to the new office spaces.

13. Why has the underpass from the main entrance of Waterloo station to the South Bank been closed?

This work is being carried out in order to de-clutter the space outside of the Victory Arch. In doing so it will help enhance the pedestrian experience by creating more space, in turn removing the current pinch point, and improving pedestrian flow and comfort as a result. You can find out more about this pedestrian strategy by seeing question 12 of the FAQs.

14. Why has the bridge that spans York Road from exit six of Waterloo station been removed?

The removal of the bridge is designed to meet the aspirations of Lambeth Council, the GLA, TfL and adjoining landowners. This is the second part of the early enabling works we are undertaking and negative impact on pedestrians has been mitigated by the closure of the underpass creating additional space at Victory Arch entrance. Following this the arrival experience will be greatly improved.

Future plans/on completion of the project, Exit 6 will reopen with a promenade allowing direct access to One Waterloo and an onward journey through York Road.

15. What are ‘enabling works’ and why are you bringing these forward now?

These works are being carried out to enable the future delivery of the new development as well as to improve the pedestrian experience around the site, ready for the main phase of construction. All works have received planning consent from the Council and will be undertaken within the Council’s, Network Rail, and TfL’s strict code of practice.

16. What is HB Reavis’ partnership with the Southbank Centre?

In March 2022, HB Reavis launched its partnership with the Southbank Centre, the largest multi-arts site in the UK. The partnership demonstrates HB Reavis’ further commitment to the landmark One Waterloo scheme.

The first of its kind, the partnership will be known as “Culture Works: Our Business Network” and will provide opportunities for SMEs to gain valuable business insights through the lens of the arts.

Membership to Culture Works is free and open to all SMEs operating in the borough of Lambeth, as well as the Greater London area. Members will receive a quarterly newsletter with opinion pieces and thought leadership relating to the latest business news/insights, updates on forthcoming events, complimentary tickets to exhibitions at the Southbank Centre, as well as opportunities to promote their own business. Find out more here.