East Bank: Why businesses are moving east
Here at IQL, we want to create more than buildings. We want to enrich our existing communities and create new, collaborative ones with health and wellbeing at their core. Our unique location in the heart of Stratford gives us access to talent, culture and education within a thriving hub of innovation – all whilst surrounded by green, open spaces.
With East Bank on its way to becoming the new cultural heart of London, we take a look at what the new development will bring to Stratford, and how it will enrich the working lives of businesses and their employees.
Set to open from 2023, East Bank is expected to be London’s largest cultural and educational district to be created in 100 years. Yes, you read that right! With world-renowned institutions UCL, V&A, BBC and Sadler’s Wells joining the neighbourhood, it’s clear that the city is moving east at an exciting pace.
The East Bank development is predicted to bring an estimated 1.5 million visitors to the area, along with more than 2,500 jobs. It’s set to be a campus of the future for businesses and personnel alike to thrive.
Thanks to the addition of two world-class higher education institutions – University College London and London College of Fashion – East Bank is sure to become not just an epicentre of education, but a hub of culture and creativity.
The new UCL campus will combine eight faculties, home to around 4,000 students and 260 staff members. Not only will it welcome talent from near and far, it will also be open to members of the public to visit and work in their community engagement spaces. We believe that collaboration and communication are key to feeling connected and inspired within our workspaces, and this is evident in the wider Stratford community too.
London College of Fashion will amalgamate its current six sites into one large campus in its new college building – welcoming 6,500 students, state-of-the-art learning facilities and public open spaces such as galleries, libraries and archives.
Businesses will have access to fresh talent and new perspectives, with the opportunity to collaborate with outstanding educational institutions to enrich their workforce. Professionals will have endless opportunities to engage with arts and culture just a stone’s throw from their workplace. The most exciting cultural and educational district to join London in recent years, East Bank will connect professional and personal wellbeing like nowhere else in the city.
Community engagement is key to the vision behind the East Bank development, with multi-purpose lecture theatres and community events at its heart.
The renowned V&A museum will also open two inter-connected sites in the area – a research centre at nearby Here East and another site at the East Bank development. Here, they will encourage local businesses, researchers and students to develop their creative and research skills, enriching the experience of those visiting and working in the east.
Brand-new BBC Music Studios will allow for state-of-the-art music recording, rehearsal studios and a purpose-built base for the BBC Symphony and Concert Orchestras. Local outreach and community engagement with nearby schools is already underway, and digital resources will soon be made available to all schools across the UK.
Providing spaces for individuals and workforces to thrive is what we do. We believe that building a rich community both inside and outside our workspaces is what sets the east apart from the rest.
East Bank will not only become a hub of activity and potential for those based in Stratford – it will encourage visitors from across London to head east and discover this new community in the making. With two stations a short walk away – Stratford and Stratford International – IQL is one of the best-connected workplace districts in London, with the ability to reach Liverpool Street in just six minutes, and Bond Street in fifteen minutes. Future phases of the newly opened Elizabeth Line will also allow quick access to Heathrow.
As more and more announcements are made about the renowned organisations who will call this side of the city their new home, East Bank is already becoming the epicentre of culture, education and opportunity, and we can’t wait to see what’s to come.