The redevelopment of Hertsmere House at West India Quay will deliver 869 flats within a 240.5m tall building, designed by architect HOK around a clover shaped footprint to maximise views for each flat.

The basement runs to a depth of just 11.7m as the site sits above Crossrail running tunnels, although all piling will be outside the Crossrail exclusion zone. Affordable housing will be included in the western wing of the building.

Around half the building facade is to be fitted with vision glass and the remainder will be fitted with highly-insulated metal panel backed glass curtain wall known as “shadow boxes” to give the building the appearance of being fully glazed from the exterior while reducing solar gain.

The demolition and construction phase will employ over 900 construction workers during a 55-month programme.

Planning permission was previously granted for a 242m 63-storey commercial tower on the site but these plans were superseded by the new residential scheme.

Setareh Neshati, senior planning manager at Greenland Group, said: “This is Greenland Group’s most important project in Europe. As well as delivering 921 new homes for Londoners, including 156 affordable homes, our scheme will revitalise this part of Canary Wharf and create a new prosperous environment that the whole community can enjoy.”

The Shanghai-based developer is also developing the high-rise Ram Brewery scheme in Wandsworth, London where Ardmore has replaced Kier to carry out the first phase of main building works.

After a two-year planning battle, the £100m build-to-rent scheme at 100 Avenue Road can now go-ahead.

The current 1980s building on the site, which was one of the first to be diagnosed with sick building syndrome, will be demolished to make way for the Theatre Square development.

The scheme, designed by Drid Architects, also includes a low-rise building above Swiss Cottage tube, as well as ground-level retail and leisure space.

Essential Living is backed by M3 Capital Partners, who manage US pension fund money.

Scott Hammond, managing director at Essential Living, said: “The extensive scrutiny of the scheme during the public inquiry has revealed the significant benefits of the scheme in terms of new homes for rent and community space.

“This is the right decision for the revitalisation of Swiss Cottage and we will now commence the work to deliver our proposals which we are calling Theatre Square.”

The construction contract is worth in excess of £100m at the north London scheme where demolition and site clearance work is underway.

Galliard Construction will now be supervising demolition the 1960’s block at the northern end of the job and starting pilling and groundworks across the site.

The fit out of new tenant facilities will begin in early 2017 with the project scheduled for completion in late 2017.

The 4.5-acre site behind Islington’s Upper Street will provide 263 residential apartments, 108 serviced apartments and 170,000 square feet of luxury lifestyle brands and restaurants alongside a Third Space Health Club and Odeon Lounge cinema.

The development contains a mix of Edwardian and new build elements, designed and master planned by CZWG Architects.

Giris Rabinovitch, CEO of Sager Group said: “There is a lot of activity on site, day to day you can see real progression within the scheme – it is all very exciting and we are on schedule for completion for October/November 2017.”

“We launched the residential apartments in February 2016, there has been a lot of interest and reservations.

“Commercially speaking, we have two key anchor tenants including The Third Space and Odeon Lounge, and a further 30 percent of retail space is under offer. We look forward to progressing the scheme and seeing our vision turn into reality.”

The scheme by Notting Hill Housing and Sellar Developments will deliver a new town centre with 1,030 new homes and a range of commercial and community uses across a seven acre site.

The development will include:

• 453 private sale homes
• 346 private rent homes
• 162 affordable rent homes
• 69 Shared Ownership homes

The site is adjacent to Canada Water underground station and the dock, between London Bridge and Canary Wharf.

It will also include 150,000sqft of retail and commercial space, including a cinema, bars, restaurants, office space and a 100,000sqft Decathlon store.

Rising up to 18 storeys, phase one of the development includes 234 apartments for private rent and the Decathlon store with basement car park.

Utilising a post-tensioned structural solution to provide the expansive spans required by the ground floor store, the contract will see Ardmore construct the store to shell and core, ready for fit out by Decathlon, before mounting tower cranes on the roof to enable the store to trade whilst Ardmore completes the building above it.

Chris Langdon, Ardmore Development Director, said: “We are thrilled to have been selected for the first phase of Project Light, which promises to be a landmark development for Canada Water.

“I am delighted to build on our excellent relationship with Notting Hill Housing, and I am looking forward to working with Sellar Developments to help transform another part of London.”

John Hughes, Group Development Director at Notting Hill Housing said: “The award of this build contract to Ardmore represents a significant milestone in the development of this major town centre site at Canada Water.

“We look forward to delivering a high quality development which will positively contribute to the regeneration of the area.”

James Sellar, Chief Executive Officer at Sellar Developments added: “Our vision is to create a vibrant new urban neighbourhood through thoughtful design, the introduction of green spaces, enhancement of the waters-edge, independent retail and events benefitting both residents and the wider community.”

Reporting 18% growth in completions to 2,178 in the first half of the year, Redrow chairman Steve Morgan said central London was the only place in the country where the house builder had seen a slowdown.

The overall rise in output helped Redrow to deliver record first-half profits of £104m, up 14%, on turnover ahead 8% at £603m.

Morgan said: “We are only at the beginning of the spring selling season, however demand for new homes remains robust.

“We ended the first half with a record order book up 51% on this time last year, and in the first six weeks of the second half have secured 455 private reservations, 10% ahead of last year.

“In the period, the average selling price of our private homes increased 2% due to the shift of our London business away from high priced Central London apartments to concentrate more on the outer London commuter market where demand remains strong. “

He added: “The only area where we have seen a slow-down is in Central London.  However, this is only having a limited effect on the group as we made the decision some time ago to re-focus our London business on outer London where the demand is from the local market and remains robust.”

Outside London Redrow’s private average selling price increased by 11% to £300,000 due to a combination of geographical mix change, reduction of impaired sites and price inflation.

Since the end of December Redrow obtained planning consent on tits Colindale site in North London converting a further 2,900 plots from forward to current land.

Morgan said the firm continued to invest heavily in land with total plots 18% ahead at 21,435 plotscompared to the summer.

Designs from Eric Parry architects plan the demolition of the headquarters of insurance giant Aviva to make way a 73-storey twoer at 1 Undershaft.

It will rise to 309.6m – putting it level with the Shard’s tallest steelwork point in London Bridge.

Singapore-based developers Aroland Holdings commissioned architect Eric Parry to work up a design for the site which has now been submitted for planning approval.

The 90,000 sq m building would be able to accommodate 10,000 people and boast a viewing platform higher than that of the Shard, and London’s highest public sky restaurant.

It would stand 28m higher than the replacement tower for the Pinnacle scheme at 22 Bishopsgate.

A conceptual design by Avery Associates for the previous owner of the 1 Undershaft site proposed an angular sloping sided glass tower peaking at 270m and prompted one contractor to dub the building “The Fang”.

The new design is for a more conventional office tower block with distinctive visible structural cross bracing.

The Stage development will see Galliard Homes, in joint venture with Cain Hoy, McCourt, Vanke and The Estate Office Shoreditch transform the 2.3 acre site of William Shakespeare’s Curtain Theatre.

The scheme by architects Perkins + Will is designed around a new central 1.28 acre public square that will showcase the sunken remains of Shakespeare’s Tudor theatre.

The square will be bordered by 400,000 sq ft of mixed use space including cafes, restaurants and shops.

The scheme will also include a 37 storey residential tower providing 412 apartments, two office buildings providing over 257,000 sq ft of commercial space and retail premises at ground level and a leisure/performing arts pavilion.

An existing 19th century railway viaduct located on one side of the new square will be restored with the historic brick arches accommodating 9,000 sqft of new shops and bars.

The historic remains of the Elizabethan Curtain Theatre, dating back to 1577, have been discovered three metres below the surface of the development.

The remains and objects found during the dig will be carefully excavated, preserved and transformed into a cultural centerpiece within the development.

Main construction works are anticipated to commence in April 2016 with final build completion scheduled for Q1 2019.

John F Hunt is currently completing demolition on the site.

Stephen Conway, Chief Executive of Galliard Homes said: “The Stage will provide a world class new destination for London.

“At its heart will be a new central square, one of the largest public open spaces to be created in the capital, bordered by historic and new buildings providing cafes, restaurants, shops, offices and new homes.

“For apartment purchasers it offers the best new address in London and an exceptional lifestyle choice and long term investment opportunity.”