Greenwich Council’s old Riverside House offices in Woolwich could be enlarged and converted into student accommodation and a hotel under plans published this week.
The tower block on Beresford Street would be enlarged from 14 to 17 storeys to house 332 student rooms, while the adjacent five-storey block would be extended by two floors to become a 265-room Holiday Inn Express with restaurant and bar.
A low-rise link between the two blocks would be demolished and the area around it landscaped with new walking routes to Powis Street created.
Riverside House was built in 1963 for the old Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich and was criticised by John Betjeman as “an absolutely square block built solely with the intention of making money”.
It housed council offices, tax offices and other tenants – including at one time, the Egg Marketing Board – but became surplus to requirements after council offices moved to the Woolwich Centre in the early 2010s.
The building was sold and has been housing artists’ studios for the past three years. MDPL Group, an investment company, is behind the scheme.
Once one of the town centre’s tallest buildings, it has been dwarfed by the Berkeley Homes towers that now sit between it and the river. The Berkeley development will eventually take over Maribor Park, the temporary green space opposite Riverside House.
The Holiday Inn Express would compete with a Premier Inn and Beefeater outlet close by.
Stantec, the developer’s agent, said MDPL hopes to begin work next summer and have the student rooms ready for September 2027, with the hotel following soon after.
It said the scheme would be a “noteworthy” addition to Woolwich that would “regenerate and revitalise this existing town centre site with a mix of uses”.
City Hall is encouraging councils to allow more student housing, believing that shared houses will be freed up to allow more family accommodation.
Half the student rooms would be “affordable”, which under City Hall rules is defined as up to 55 per cent of an annual student maintenance loan.
Woolwich town centre was previously a hub for student accommodation, with the old Thames Polytechnic having a large halls of residence off Grand Depot Road.
Now Beresford Street could soon be home to many hundreds of students.
Work recently begun on a 14-storey student block at the Woolwich Catholic Club site at the other end of Beresford Street, which was approved two years ago.
And early plans for a development at Macbean Street, between the two sites, also include student housing.Detailed plans can be seen on the Greenwich Council planning website, where comments can also be left.
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