Elephant Park sustainability

Elephant Park set itself the high ambition of being among the most sustainable inner-city urban regeneration projects in the world – “A place full of life in Central London’s new green heart. A vibrant, established neighbourhood, where everybody loves to belong”. Over the past decade, that vision has become a reality, delivering a project that has made a real difference to the local area and one that has become part of London’s rich tapestry of green spaces and communities.

The landscape and public spaces in Elephant Park is a key feature of the project, playing a crucial part in mitigating the impacts of climate change, providing new habitats for wildlife, and creating a space for people to relax and play. Over 11 acres of new and improved public spaces will be delivered in total, representing almost half of the land area of the development. At the heart of this is the new 2.5-acre park. Amongst our green spaces are the park’s rain gardens which is designed to lessen the burden on London’s combined sewer system by running surface water into the park’s ground.

All the new homes at Elephant Park were at least 35% better than Building Regulations Part-L required. This included 15 pioneering ‘Futurehomes’ – the first homes in Zone 1 of London to be accredited to the world-leading Passivhaus standard. Parkside were also the first apartments in Europe to achieve the WELL Residence seal, an independent marker for healthy homes.

The Elephant Park Energy Centre (“The Trunk”) includes a combined heat and power plant (CHP) utilising natural gas, offset by grid-injected biomethane. It delivers net zero-carbon, affordable heat and hot water to residents and businesses across Elephant Park, with the opportunity for further local connections in the future. The Trunk is also a hub for the local community, providing a multi-purpose events space, together with children's playground outside, creating a space for all to enjoy.

Elephant Park features a variety of habitats with its range of trees and plants that attracts many different kinds of local wildlife, from songbirds and squirrels to bats, butterflies and bees. Beyond the central park, green roofs, green walls and other planting across the development, combined with swift bricks, bird and bat boxes, water pools and log piles, all compliment each other in providing habitats for wildlife to thrive. Such features will help ensure the project has delivered a net gain in biodiversity once the final stages of the park is complete.

Elephant Park is designed to support and encourage green transport in all its forms. Across the site we have delivered over 90 new cycle-hire bikes, over 3,000 bicycle spaces, a wealth of new pedestrian and cycle routes, and charging ports for electric vehicles.

Trees were a fundamental part of our commitment to sustainability at Elephant Park. The project established extensive and ambitious tree planting programme, which was developed in direct response to local community feedback. Designs were carefully prepared to preserve and retain over 120 mature trees from the previous Heygate Estate – many of which were planted onsite in the 1960s. This helped maintain local biodiversity, with mature trees providing heathy and safe habitats for local wildlife.

In addition to retaining as many existing trees as possible, over 1,000 tress have been planted across the site and surrounding streets and parks. Not only will these trees provide important refuge for local wildlife, but their canopies help cool the air during summer months, providing important shade, as well as help improve air pollution.

Historically, the Heygate Estate upon which much of Elephant Park is located, was comprised of neo-brutalist 1970s high-rise accommodation, housing approximately 3000 people, many of whom were born and raised within the Southwark area, and many of whom chose to make Southwark their home from elsewhere. Southwark Council conducted the decanting and demolition of the Heygate Estate independently of Lendlease, several years before we received possession for the various sites around Elephant Park.

Lendlease is proud of the enduring relationships we’ve made with the surrounding community, which, over time, has helped create a place where everyone feels welcome, and where residents old and new can find a sense of belonging and welcome.

The vibrant mix of social infrastructure, including the Tree House, Library, Park and The Trunk, continues to deliver benefits for local people, ranging from schools and community wellbeing programmes through to Art classes for local residents experiencing early-stage dementia. From its very earliest beginnings, the meanwhile space created on the site provided space for business accelerators, hospitality businesses, employability support and a vibrant temporary home for the local library.

We worked hard to ensure that local people benefit from the creation of Elephant Park, becoming the first construction site in the UK to mandate living wages, creating over 1,700 jobs for local residents, and supporting local entrepreneurs with business accelerators and ongoing business support.

Lendlease’s long standing commitment to the Elephant and Castle Community Fund over a period of 12 years has enabled over 70 local charities and organisations to support the local community through arts, cultural, mental health, wellbeing, physical, sports and educational activities. This well-regarded fund continues to deliver for local people, with many grant recipients being multi-year beneficiaries.

Independent third-party studies have assessed the social value created by Elephant Park both quantitatively and qualitatively. Envoy Partnership, who undertook a social return on investment study, showed that for each £1 we invested in social programmes, the return to the local community is valued at £6. The London School of Economics also undertook a longitudinal study on local sentiment at Elephant Park, showing that local people, and particularly those from underrepresented groups (LGBTQ+IA, females, Latino Community members) feel significant improvements have been made to the area as a result of the development.