Boxpark Croydon, London’s second development of this kind, will be located on the Ruskin Square site and is set to open next summer.

The development will consist of 97 shipping containers, and will be food and drink focused. Plots will be rented out to a mixture of independent small and medium sized businesses, with the scheme expected to generate 200 new jobs. A covered courtyard area will allow for all year-round events to take place.

Stiles Harold Williams acted as planning consultants for the development, which is being delivered in partnership with the Greater London Authority and Stanhope & Schroders.

Boxpark Croydon is a 'meanwhile use' scheme which will occupy Ruskin Square during Stanhope & Schroders’s wider office and housing focussed redevelopment of the site.

Alison Butler, cabinet member for homes, regeneration and planning at Croydon Council, said: “Boxpark’s arrival is a sign of how Croydon is rapidly changing and is an important milestone in the regeneration of our borough. It will transform East Croydon, taking the site at Ruskin Square earmarked for future development by Stanhope & Schroder and turning it into something welcoming and attractive to the two million people who pass through the station each year.”

Roger Wade, founder and CEO of Boxpark said of the decision: “This is the culmination of many months of work across many disciplines. The town planning processes in itself can be quite complicated. I am grateful to the team at Stiles Harold Williams for helping navigate the process and for always taking the time to explain matters without the use of planning jargon.”

Ian Coomber, head of planning for Stiles Harold Williams, added: “The design is incredibly innovative - an urban chic pop-up retail centre that will become a fashionable hot-spot for this part of town - very much a ‘shop window’ for the large number of visitors arriving by rail.”

Image courtesy of Stiles Harold Williams