Data centre the size of 14 football pitches planned for South London riverside industrial area

The 100,000sqm data centre development would mean the demolition of three locally listed buildings at Charlton Riverside

Plans to build a data centre the size of 14 football pitches at Charlton Riverside have been unveiled just weeks after plans for thousands of homes were announced. Luxembourg-based real estate business Tyburn RWC Limited wants to build the 100,000sqm data development on industrial land between the River Thames and Woolwich Road, close to the Thames Barrier.

This comes days after Greenwich Council launched a new partnership with TfL and the Mayor’s office dedicated to transforming Charlton Riverside into a place “where thousands of people can live, work and enjoy the river to its full potential”. The South London authority hopes major public investment will see the creation of 8,000 new homes and 1,000 over the next 20 years.

The data centre plans also clash with a proposal to open a 5,000 capacity outdoor events venue on the same industrial estate. The venue plans have received significant backlash from police, a nearby nightclub and Greenwich’s own Licensing, Community Protection and Environmental Health teams.

Tyburn has not yet submitted a full planning application for its data centre proposal, only a request for an Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping Opinion. This request seeks a statement from Greenwich Council outlining how in-depth the full proposal’s environmental statement should be.

The size of the centre and all its associated areas such as generator yards, substation and office will be 100,000sqm, equal to about 14 football pitches. The centre itself will be 75,000 sqm.

The data centre will be built on 15.1 acres of industrial land currently taken up by the VIP Charlton and Stone Foundries trading estates and the CSB Logistics building. Some of the warehouses are vacant, while others (such as CSB) are still in use.

The Stone Foundry building would be retained as part of the development. 14 metres tall, this would be dwarfed by the new data centre which would be over twice as tall at 37 metres with associated plant infrastructure reaching a maximum height of 45 metres.

Three meter high perimeter fencing would also be required for some parts of the site, in particular its southern boundary.

Vehicular access to the site would be via the existing western Estate Road from Anchor and Hope Lane. A new access road would also be established from Herringham Road to the north.

The proposed data centre would have 40 parking spaces to facilitate and support its continuous 24/7 operation. If planning permission is granted, the applicant estimates the centre will take five years to build, from 2028 to 2033.

If the data centre were to be approved, three locally listed buildings would be demolished to make way for it. All three are part of the Stone Foundries site established by J. Stone Company at Charlton Riverside in 1916.

The first would be a 1940s three-storey office building in a “restrained Moderne style” that contains a lobby with “an exceptionally well-preserved 1940s interior”. The second would be a laboratory building in a similar style and the Stone Fasteners Building, known as the Odeon Building, which has an “unusual circular corner entrance”.

The Jubilee Foundry, J. Stone & Co. Magnesium Foundry and Charlton Ropeworks would also be demolished as part of the data centre proposal.

Planning documents also estimate that 64,086 tonnes of waste will be generated from demolition, excavation and construction on the site. It is reckoned that 7,246 tonnes will require disposal to landfill while the rest will be recycled.

Greenwich Council has until September 11 to respond to the request for an Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping Opinion. A full planning application is expected soon after.

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