London, UK – January 30, 2026

A major new integrated healthcare and research campus is planned for Whitechapel, designed to meet NHS needs, deliver affordable homes for key workers, and unlock new green spaces for the local community. The 1 million sq. ft scheme sits within the Barts Life Sciences Cluster and is projected to add £1bn annually to the UK’s Gross Value Added (GVA). It represents a £0.75bn investment into Whitechapel and is expected to create 1,325 new jobs – a significant boost at a time of minimal national economic growth.

A planning application has been submitted by a collaborative team led by BGO in partnership with Barts Health NHS Trust, including PLP Architecture, dMFK, DSDHA and BD Landscape Architects, with Avison Young, Sweco, AKT II, DP9 and GIA. The proposals introduce a new model for co-locating NHS services, research and local amenity within the life sciences cluster covering Whitechapel.

In due course this development could release extra space for The Royal London, one of the capital’s busiest hospitals. It envisages a new 64,427m² facility, designed by PLP Architecture. Alongside public-sector services, this building would offer flexible workspaces – 10% of would be affordable – for health-tech, diagnostics, AI and robotics companies, fostering collaboration between clinicians, researchers and private-sector innovators.

The ground floor would be publicly accessible, with a large foyer and café leading to a flexible 800m² event space for up to 500 people – designed for exhibitions, community use and as a space to demonstrate MedTech innovation and research. The ground floor also includes amenity spaces for NHS staff and a proposed new home for the Royal London Hospital Museum. At roof level, a terrace for building users and staff from the Royal London Hospital would feature a 100m running track, sports pitch and panoramic views across London – a space for rest, reflection and social connection.

Across five new residential buildings and refurbished terrace housing, the development would deliver a mix of private apartments, open-market shared living, affordable family units, and specialist accommodation for key workers. 53% of housing will be affordable social rent homes. Eligibility for 167 homes prioritised for key workers, will be salary-capped to target those most in need. A further 61 private homes will also be delivered at a time when new housing supply remains low.

A generous new public realm strategy, rooted in the historic grain of Whitechapel, will create a permeable, accessible environment. The upgrade of Philpot Street into a welcoming green garden and the reopening of Walden Street will restore an east–west pedestrian route through the site. A 3,600m², 275m long fully revamped landscaped public realm and new open central courtyard in the heart of the main building will deliver fully publicly accessible gardens and amenity areas, planted with 200 new trees. These spaces are designed to support hospital workers, local residents and school pupils, while contributing positively to ecology and biodiversity.

Shane DeGaris, group chief executive of Barts Health NHS Trust said: “This is an exciting example of how we are working with local partners to bring much-needed investment into Whitechapel and regenerate the area around our flagship teaching hospital, The Royal London. The potential benefits for our staff, patients and their local communities are enormous. We will continue to work closely with BGO and others in the Barts Life Sciences Cluster to attract industry and turn our research into life-changing clinical practices and products for our patients.”

Merrik Baggallay, Managing Director at BGO, commented: “People living in Whitechapel and wider Tower Hamlets experience some of the poorest health outcomes in London. Life expectancy remains significantly below the London average, and the borough has high levels of deprivation, long-term health conditions and chronic disease. This development responds directly to that context, delivering essential NHS infrastructure, enabling space for care, and establishing an inclusive campus that reflects the social, clinical and cultural needs of the city. I am incredibly proud of BGO’s involvement in this groundbreaking and significant masterplan and look forward to working with the Cluster and local stakeholders as we move through delivery.”

Appendix

Design Statements & Quotes

Barts Life Science Cluster

Located in Whitechapel, East London, and anchored around The Royal London Hospital, the Barts Life Sciences Cluster is focused on creating a world-class ecosystem that brings together clinical, research, innovation, and commercial activity across MedTech, AI, digital health, and therapeutics. The Cluster integrates The Royal London Hospital — renowned for its clinical excellence and diverse patient base — and is adjacent to the research-intensive Queen Mary University of London. Its mission is to accelerate the development and adoption of innovation, drive inclusive economic growth, and improve health outcomes for patients in East London and beyond. Please find more information on the Barts Life Sciences website.

PLP Architecture

“Healthcare in London is under immense pressure, and the new Whitechapel Estate is designed to support the people who hold it together. New clinical research and outpatient facilities will free up hospital space, enable clinical-led innovation, and give NHS staC places to rest, recover and connect – things too often missing from their working lives. Alongside this, we’re delivering urgently needed specialist accommodation: safe, affordable homes designed to support wellbeing, restore dignity, and bring key workers closer to the communities they serve.”

— Lee Polisano, President, PLP Architecture

PLP Architecture responsible for the design of two key buildings within the new Whitechapel Estate: a flagship research-led and patient-focused facility (Building G) and dedicated specialist accommodation for NHS staff (Building D1). Together, these projects support new models of healthcare, research and community living in an urban setting.

Building G brings together clinical services, education, and life sciences research; it includes an 800m² flexible event space, a new museum for the Royal London Hospital, and a semi-public large rooftop terrace for all NHS staff and building users. Its design balances civic presence with contextual sensitivity, expressed through a clear vertical rhythm, double-height colonnade, and carefully scaled volumes that respond to both the larger scale hospital and the smaller scale residential neighbours.

Building D1 provides 167 affordable specialist accommodation for NHS staff, around a variety of amenity spaces including shared kitchens at every level, communal spaces, lounges and rooftop terrace. Its stepped massing and warm materials create a welcoming, domestic character, while generous shared spaces foster connection and wellbeing. The design aligns with, and improves upon, London Plan guidance for shared living accommodation, supporting staff recruitment and retention at the doorstep of the Royal London Hospital.

dMFK

dMFK has design responsibility for four residential blocks, comprising 50 social rent homes – the majority being much-needed three- and four-bedroom apartments – in Building C, 56 private homes across Buildings A and D2, and the conversion of a part-listed gallery into five private maisonettes. The design draws on Whitechapel’s layered architectural character, reinterpreting the robust brickwork, rhythm and scale of its 19th- and early-20th-century semi-industrial and residential buildings.

“This project represents a genuine opportunity to make a lasting social difference in Whitechapel. Alongside vital life-science and community facilities, the masterplan will provide new homes for NHS staff, families on the council’s housing register and local people, creating a truly mixed and inclusive community. Our design approach celebrates the character and texture of the East End, delivering well-proportioned, high-quality apartments that are firmly rooted in their setting – helping to foster a balanced and sustainable urban neighbourhood for the future.”

Jonny Wong, Director at dMFK

Building A: A high-quality new-build residential block providing 22 private apartments on the site of the former Horace Evans House. The five-storey design mediates between the listed terraces to the east and newer development to the west, with refined façade detailing and a mansard roof that complements neighbouring slate roofs. Residents benefit from a shared communal terrace providing outdoor amenity space.

Building C: A new seven-storey affordable housing block delivering 50 high-quality social rent apartments for local people on the council’s housing register, replacing the low-quality Kent, Hubert Ashton and Brierley Houses. The mix is predominantly three- and four-bed family apartments, with a proportion of smaller homes to support a range of local needs. Its robust brickwork and articulated façade draw inspiration from early-20th-century East End housing, giving the building a strong, grounded presence within the neighbourhood. Residents have access to a communal roof terrace.

Building D2: A new six-storey residential block providing 34 private apartments on the site of the former Clare Alexander House. The architecture continues the material rhythm of Block C, with carefully proportioned façades and high-quality detailing that contribute to a cohesive streetscape. A landscaped communal terrace provides shared outdoor amenity for residents.

Building E: A high-quality residential refurbishment converting a listed terrace on Ashfield Street – originally built as townhouses in the early 1800s and later adapted as a gallery – into five maisonettes for private sale. The retrofit and extension retains the Georgian character and domestic scale of the three-storey terraces, preserving historic fabric and sensitively returning the building to residential use.

DSDHA

DSDHA is responsible for the design of Building B, whose position on the corner of Turner Street and Ashfield Street will act as a highly crafted visual marker both for the emerging Whitechapel Life Science Cluster and the area’s transitional character, where larger and smaller-scale buildings coexist.

Comprising 230 shared living units, it is designed with communal facilities on dedicated internal floors to encourage social interaction and a sense of community. These internal shared amenities also give direct connections to terraces, allowing for generous access to greenspace, whilst a ground-floor café extends onto courtyard gardens, activating the public realm.

“Replacing low-quality 20th-century buildings, our approach aims to repair the street frontage with a high-quality design solution while allowing for the reinstatement of historic Walden Street. This provides a clear and welcoming route connecting Turner Street to the wider masterplan development, whilst the inclusion of shared living aims to provide the aCordable, flexible accommodation needed to sustain the ecosystem of a leading life science quarter.” - David Hills, Founding Director, DSDHA

Company Profiles

About PLP Architecture

Bringing together people, planet, and technology, PLP Architecture globally drives innovation in architecture and urban design from our London hub, extending our impact through studios in Tokyo and Singapore. Our experience in design, research, and strategy is underpinned by our commitment to creating meaningful change in our cities.

This marks the latest in a series of healthcare and life sciences buildings designed by PLP in London. Their portfolio includes the Francis Crick Institute, Europe’s largest biomedical research facility; the Cleveland Clinic London, the US healthcare provider’s first hospital in Europe; and Imperial ThinkSpace, a research and innovation hub that anchors Imperial College’s White City campus and brings academia and industry together under one roof.

Website: https://plparchitecture.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/plparchitecture/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/590170

dMFK

Founded by three friends from architecture school, dMFK has grown over 25 years into a multiaward-winning practice of around 60 architects and interior designers. The AJ100 studio is known for creating beautiful buildings to live, work and gather in – characterful, timeless places that people truly cherish. Every project begins as a conversation, helping to pinpoint the architectural need and ensuring interior design and architecture work in harmony. By considering everything, from the foundations to the perfect door handle, dMFK creates joined-up, human spaces that make moving through your day feel natural, important, spectacular.

Awards include: Building Design OSice Interior Architect of the Year 2025, Architizer A+Awards Commercial Firm of the Year 2025, RIBA London Award 2025 for Chancery House, Civic Trust Award 2025 for Brewers’ Hall, Mix Interiors Design Practice of the Year 2024, Building Design OSice Architect of the Year 2024, Mix Awards Project of the Year 2024 for Chancery House, Dezeen Award Workplace Interior of the Year 2024 for Chancery House.

For further information see www.dmfk.co.uk or follow us on Instagram at @dMFKarchitects.

About DSDHA

Blurring the boundaries between infrastructure, landscape, architecture and art, DSDHA's work is the result of extensive dialogue with communities, as well as stakeholders and collaborators, to deliver projects that have the broadest impact. Known for their high-profile urban strategies, landscapes and innovative buildings, often in complex and sensitive environments, as well as widely-acclaimed research, they have been recognised with 20 RIBA Awards to date, shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize, and twice nominated for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award.

The studio’s aim is to foster positive change and to empower communities, creating social value through collaboration and meaningful engagement, often looking at how relationships and partnerships can make best use of the city’s latent spatial potential.

Instagram: dsdha_architecture
LinkedIn: DSDHA

About Avison Young

Ulf Eickelberg, Principal, Avison Young, said: “We have been responsible for the project management of the Whitechapel Healthcare and Research Campus. It’s been a tremendous team effort, and we look forward to working together to realise this important project.”

Avison Young creates real economic, social and environmental value as a global real estate advisor, powered by people. As a private company, our clients collaborate with an empowered partner who is invested in their success. Our integrated talent realises the full potential of real estate by using global intelligence platforms that provide clients with insights and advantage.

Together, we can create healthy, productive workplaces for employees, cities that are centres for  prosperity for their citizens, and built spaces and places that create a net benefit to the economy, the environment and the community.

Avison Young is a 2025 winner of the Canada's Best Managed Companies Platinum Club designation, having retained its Best Managed designation for 14 consecutive years.

www.avisonyoung.com

About BGO

BGO is a leading, global real estate investment management advisor and a globally-recognized provider of real estate services. BGO serves the interests of more than 750 institutional clients with approximately $89 billion USD of assets under management (as of September 30, 2025) and expertise in the asset management of office, industrial, multi-residential, retail and hospitality property across the globe. BGO has offices in 25 cities across twelve countries with deep, local knowledge, experience, and extensive networks in the regions where we invest in and manage real estate assets on behalf of our clients in primary, secondary and co-investment markets. BGO is a part of SLC Management, the institutional alternatives and traditional asset management business of Sun Life.

The assets under management shown above includes real estate equity and mortgage investments managed by the BGO group of companies and their affiliates, and as of 1Q21, includes certain uncalled capital commitments for discretionary capital until they are legally expired and excludes certain uncalled capital commitments where the investor has complete discretion over investment.

For more information, please visit www.bgo.com