Where: Bethnal Green Road, Shoreditch
Who For: Boxpark
What: 1741 sqm commercial space
Photograph: Studio Makgill
Boxpark is a revolutionary new concept, the world’s first contemporary pop-up retail mall designed to provide small-scale, flexible shop units created from 63 recycled metal shipping containers. Boxpark was specifically conceived as a way of delivering temporary uses on ‘brownfield’ or under-utilised sites pending permanent redevelopment in order to deliver short to medium term employment opportunities for the local community as well as environmental improvements to act as a catalyst for further investment in an area.
The Bishopsgate Goods Yard site was specifically identified due to the opportunity of temporary uses pending redevelopment but also due to its location in Shoreditch, one of London’s main centres for fashion and the creative arts. CMA Planning secured planning permission in a very short timeframe from the London Borough of Hackney in May 2011 and from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in September 2011 (the site straddles the borough boundary). CMA then assisted with discharging conditions, obtaining advertisement approval and securing approval for minor amendments. Boxpark opened in December 2011.
CMA then secured permission to extend the life of Boxpark, most recently in 2021, and secured an upwards 2nd floor extension in 2022.