Quod Field Trip to the LLDC with planning powers handing back to the boroughs

Field Trip! With planning powers being handed back from the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) to the respective Boroughs at the end of November 2024, we treated ourselves to a walking tour of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (QEOP) and Stratford City to see and hear about the projects Quod has been involved in, from our very own colleagues. Quod has been instrumental in delivering the transformational change in this part of London since the early 2000’s (admittedly including before Quod was Quod!). From the initial Olympic masterplan, to Stratford City, it was a timely opportunity to reflect on decades of hard work. We spoke about the transition of Olympic mode to Legacy mode; about how, what is now East Village, housed over 17,000 athletes and officials during the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to then be transformed into the UK’s first major build to rent development accommodating 2,818 homes; reclaiming significant sites blighted by contamination (and who can forget the fridge mountain) to a wonderful biodiverse landscape; building new communities by delivering new schools and places to live, work and play.

It would be amiss not to thank all of those that we have worked with over the years – from consultants; clients; statutory and local planning authorities; fellow planners; architects; LOCOG; ODA; LLDC and relevant Boroughs – to only name a few. Not only have we collaborated, but we have made career long friends that have been driven by a can-do attitude and camaraderie. When private and public sectors work together, this is what can be achieved. If the Government is serious about delivering on its ambitious goals, then it can learn a lot from Stratford in how to transform a heavily contaminated, former industrial rail land, to a new part of the city. It isn’t just about housing, it’s about creating a place.

Thank you to Gregory Blaxland for organising another great Quod learning field trip and to Steffan Rees, Matthew Sharpe, Sean Bashforth, Anjuli Schiele, Matt Eyre and Rory Chambers for talking through some of the vast projects Quod have worked on.

London Legacy Development Corporation, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Balfour Beatty plc, The Hill Group, Places for People, Westfield, Lendlease, LCR Property, Stratford Original, Delancey, Qatari Diar, Get Living, Telford Living, London Square, ABBA Voyage, Riverside East, Hackney Bridge, Manhattan Loft Gardens, East Wick & Sweetwater.