IKEA has spent as much as £25 million to purchase a plot of land in East London of no less than 26 acres, with the intention of constructing 480,000 square feet of office space on the site. The flat pack furniture giant has announced its intention to create a "flat pack city" as a part of its first
commercial property development in the United Kingdom. The new suburb, which is being referred to as the 'Strand East" project and is located in Stratford, will feature up to 1200 new homes, a hotel with as many as 350 bedrooms, as well as both retail and office space.
The Scandinavian company is describing the proposed new suburb as a "mini Venice" because the development is situated next to a canal, is near the Olympic Park, and will also incorporate within it a floating cocktail bar.
The entire site is intended to be of an environmentally friendly nature, and will be connected via pedestrian walkways, with boats and moorings utilised for the purposes of taxis and transport. Cars will be parked underground, while energy requirements and rubbish removal will be provided by a water power plant.
"This is yet another great example of the 2012 legacy rippling out of the olympic park and across East London," says the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. A planning application for the new site will be submitted early next year.
