Edgware Town Centre Transformation

Edgware Town Centre Transformation is one of London’s most ambitious regeneration projects, designed to create a vibrant, sustainable and connected urban hub for future generations. This £1.7bn scheme, led by Ballymore and Places for London, with support from Mott MacDonald, has secured resolution to grant outline planning permission from the London Borough of Barnet after years of collaborative work.

The 10.3ha site sits adjacent to Edgware Underground Station and includes the Broadwalk Shopping Centre, its car park and existing bus facilities. The vision is to deliver thousands of new homes, high-quality public spaces and modern transport infrastructure, all aligned with the Mayor of London’s priorities for affordable housing, active travel and economic growth.

The scheme will deliver 3365 new homes, including a minimum of 35% affordable homes, student accommodation units, and commercial and leisure space for shops, cafes and a new cinema. There will be spaces for health and education use and a new town square and nature park with walking and cycling routes. The scheme will also include the UK’s first fully electric bus garage, with an enhanced transport interchange with improved connections between bus and tube services and upgraded pedestrian and cycling infrastructure.

It is estimated that the development will bring around significant investment to the area, with over 1400 full-time jobs, and £80M GVA for the local economy.

“We have been working with Places for London for over a decade, and the Edgware scheme being brought forward with Ballymore, is the latest example of where we have been able to use our expertise to support multiple landowners and stakeholders,” says Mott MacDonald project lead and account director for Places for London Jonathan Todd. “We have played a pivotal role in shaping this transformation, bringing together our capabilities in infrastructure, placemaking, sustainability and transport planning to unlock Edgware’s full potential.

Expertise on hand

From the start the team worked closely with the client partnership to optimise the masterplan, working across every stage of development, from early feasibility studies to detailed design strategies.

“To achieve this, we have drawn on our decades of experience in urban regeneration and development,” says Jonathan. “One of our strengths is being able to reach back into the business and bring in subject matter experts when needed to ensure the best possible solutions for our client and the community. From the outset, the project presented significant challenges. The site’s complexity, with competing demands for ground-level space, required innovative thinking.”

The masterplan incorporates 26 new buildings with one rising to 29 storeys, alongside a new bus interchange. Integrating these elements has required structural solutions that could accommodate tall residential towers while maintaining clear spans at ground level for retail, car parking and bus movements. The team has used the site’s natural topography to minimise cut and fill requirements, reducing environmental impact and construction complexity.

Sustainable solutions

Sustainability has been a guiding principle, and the team has supported the ambition for a fossil fuel-free development by integrating electric vehicle infrastructure, air source heat pumps, solar panels and green roofs. Car parking provision has been rationalised to encourage sustainable travel choices, complemented by a new 200-space cycle hub and more than 3.5km of walking and cycling routes.

This is about more than housing - it’s about creating a place where people can live, work and enjoy a thriving town centre.

A landscape-led design introduces 4.8ha of open and green space, including a 2ha nature park that reconnects Edgware with a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC). This will create opportunities for active lifestyles and biodiversity enhancement, linking Edgware with Mill Hill and Burnt Oak through new green corridors.

“Edgware is a key transport node at the end of the London Underground with a 24-hour bus service serving more than 20 routes with peak frequencies over 60 buses per hour,” explains Jonathan. “While the existing bus facilities are hidden out of sight from the high street with poor natural visibility, we have re-orientated them to give direct access to the high street - the destination for at least two-thirds of passenger journeys through the bus station.

“This will not only improve visibility and accessibility but also reduce pedestrian conflict" adds Jonathan.

The team has undertaken a comprehensive transport assessment aligned with TfL’s Healthy Streets and Vision Zero principles, ensuring that safety, accessibility and active travel were embedded in the design. This included a robust Active Travel Zone analysis and Healthy Streets assessments across six key locations, which informed upgrades to pedestrian and cycling infrastructure.

Jonathan highlights the impact: “Our work on this redevelopment marks a major step forward in delivering sustainable, inclusive transport for Edgware. We’re significantly reducing vehicle trips and creating a more walkable town centre through new pedestrian routes and crossings.”

A UK first

One of the most groundbreaking aspects of the scheme is the UK’s first fully electric bus garage, designed by Mott MacDonald. This new facility will support a fully electric fleet, future-proofing public transport and contributing to London’s carbon reduction goals.

“The new bus garage is something we have been very excited to develop,” says Jonathan. “Our fire engineering team has been working closely with project stakeholders and the fire authorities to tackle the unique challenges posed by electric vehicles, to ensure that the proposals are sufficiently robust to keep up with the fast pace of development in this field.”

Collaboration is key

“Key to the success of this, and other similar projects, is bringing together like-minded developers and infrastructure asset owners who share values and goals and can work well together in mutually beneficial partnerships,” emphasises Jonathan. “This is about more than housing - it’s about creating a place where people can live, work and enjoy a thriving town centre.

“The Edgware Town Centre Transformation is not just a development project, it’s a blueprint for how integrated design and collaboration can create a sustainable, inclusive town centres that will deliver lasting value for communities,” adds Jonathan.