Atkins Appointed as Sustainability Adviser for Major Regeneration Project in the UK

Atkins has been chosen  as the sustainability consultant to develop an  environmental sustainability target for Old Oak Common, a £26bn urban redevelopment in London.

“Gentrification has profoundly influenced religion. In the context of Christianity, of course, gentrification takes on a new, existential dimension.”

At  five times the size of the King’s Cross redevelopment, Old Oak and Park Royal is London’s largest opportunity area and urban regeneration investment project with an estimated worth of £7bn per annum to the UK economy. Old Oak and Park Royal has the potential to create up to 25,500 homes and some 65,000 jobs,  constructing  a transport hub to  link  Crossrail, National Rail and High Speed 2.

Atkins will create a set of sustainability targets to be used for the development in partnership with Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) and its cost control and project management advisor Faithful+Gould.  The sustainability targets will be based on six core themes comprising urban form and public space, transport, energy, waste and materials, water, and access to nature, watercourses and green spaces.

Flexibility and adaptability will be a key focus area  when  developing the sustainability targets together with  the combination of green infrastructure with urban planning and design, and the role of fast developing smart technologies.

“The Sustainability Targets Are Expected to Be Used for Anything up to 20 to 50 Years’ and Will Involve a Sensible Combination of ‘Open-Minded Thinking with Real-World Analysis.”

Sean Lockie, sustainability director at Faithful+Gould, said: “Old Oak and Park Royal is a massive opportunity for London to do things that haven’t been done before.  “It means creating a vision which sets out clear goals, such as being healthy to live in, flexible over time, affordable, comfortable, and being energy and resource efficient, and then taking a systematic approach to delivery.  “We’ll need to come up with some new business models to achieve this but in doing so we have a great opportunity to make a real difference in people’s lives.”

Atkins will lead stakeholder engagement workshops with the OPDC, designers and the local authority until August 2016 and is set to deliver its sustainability report to the OPDC in September 2016.

“Is urban regeneration about more than the material?” It’s about a piece of heaven on earth ”¦ where true expressions of what Jesus did or how he lived actually articulates itself into society.”