Welcome to Opus, Bankside Yards
The landmark riverside development in London’s South Bank harnessing new technologies for a fossil-free future
London’s South Bank, a waterfront promenade stretching beside the River Thames from Westminster towards Tower Bridge, is home to a superb line-up of landmark sites. Art galleries, museums, theatres and concert halls put it at the heart of the capital’s cultural scene while family entertainment is provided by venues including The London Eye and the Tate Modern. Now, this vibrant and much-loved London quarter has added prestigious new residential options. For those who want a central London home with a ground-breaking sustainability manifesto, Bankside Yards is the name to bookmark.
Bankside Yards is a £2.5 bn sustainable mixed-use project by UK developers Native Land. It sits at the junction of Bankside and South Bank, beside Tate Modern on a 5.5 acre site, with 14 historic railway arches and exceptional views across and along the river.
“Previously, the site represented a significant gap in the otherwise well-linked South Bank,” says Emma Fletcher-Brewer, Partner at Knight Frank. “Bankside Yards provides the final piece in the jigsaw of the north and south banks of The Thames, opening up the route along the South Bank for the first time in 150 years and with over three acres in total now in the public realm. After the development of King’s Cross, there are very few large swathes of land in prime central London left for development of scale. This is one of them.”
The site will eventually have 8 buildings, including a brand- new Mandarin Oriental hotel, the elite brand’s third London property. The first residential building, the 50-storey Opus, is launching this spring, with 249 contemporary studio to four-bedroom apartments and breath-taking views of St Paul’s Cathedral across The Thames. Homes have a spacious, lateral floor plan, all with floor-to-ceiling windows. Residents have full access to four floors of stand-out amenities including a padel court, bouldering wall and co-working spaces as well as a gym, spa complete with hydropool, and on the 23rd floor, a lounge, bar and restaurant with terrace.
“Native Land is building a metropolis of the future,” says Fletcher-Brewer. “There’s a quirky mix that pulls in residential homes as well as retail, offices, culture, restaurants and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. It will create a forward-looking 15-minute neighbourhood with a winning lifestyle and a serious focus on sustainability.”
Innovation and sustainability are very much to the fore at Bankside Yards which is the UK’s first fossil fuel-free mixed-use development in operation. “The buildings will all be powered by electricity from renewable sources using air source heat pumps with the first low temperature 5th generation energy sharing network of this scale in the UK, providing unprecedented energy sharing benefits,” says Nicholas Gray, Executive Director at Native Land. “The sustainability levels we have attained here are undoubtedly what we as developers are most proud of at Bankside Yards.”
Native Land is building a metropolis of the future
Arbor was the first of the eight planned buildings to be completed at Bankside Yards, a ‘smart office’ building with a strong focus on ESG where existing tenants include The Carbon Trust and FTSE 100-listed Smiths Group PLC.
“Bankside Yards will be a true mixed-use development and the clear environmental benefits of combining office and residential space, heating one during the day and the other after office hours, is a significant part of the story,” says Angus Goswell, Partner and Chair of London Offices at Knight Frank. “But the success of Arbor is more than that. It is about the lifestyle and leisure facilities on offer, the impactful views over the river, the vibrant location and also the quality of the building with Native Land renowned for their great attention to detail. Together, this explains why Arbor has achieved the highest rents of any office building in Southwark.”
Native Land is also opening up the 14 long-closed Victorian railway arches, artfully restoring them to provide social and cultural community-centred spaces.
The uncompromising sustainability focus, the future-proofed homes by the waterfront at the heart of central London and the exceptional cultural and leisure options on hand are among the chief reasons for the development’s strong domestic and international appeal, says Fletcher-Brewer. “For the public, this development will allow them to move easily along the Thames Path between Tate Modern and The Royal Festival Hall,” she says. “For residents, it provides next-generation living in a contemporary home in one of London’s most exciting projects, surrounded by the culture and history of the capital.”
