McLaren appointed on £55m Walworth PBSA scheme
Elephant & Castle development moves into construction
1 October 2026
Fabrix and PATRIZIA have appointed McLaren Construction to deliver a £55m PBSA-led mixed-use development at Walworth Road in Elephant & Castle.
Walworth Corners will provide 283 student beds and 20 affordable homes for social rent alongside retail, community space and new public realm. Enabling works are already underway on the 0.34-hectare brownfield site, with completion targeted for spring 2028.
The 134,000 sq ft project is the first development to be delivered through the London living joint venture established by Fabrix and PATRIZIA in 2025. The partnership has more than £100m of investment capacity focused on alternative living and affordable housing, with PATRIZIA providing institutional equity.
Development finance is also in place after Fabrix secured a £69.5m green loan from Aviva Investors earlier this year. Together, the equity and debt package has enabled the partners to move a scheme that secured unanimous planning consent in November 2024 into construction.
Louis Duffield, partner at Fabrix, said: “McLaren's appointment is an important milestone for Walworth Corners and for the growth of our living portfolio. We have an exceptional team in place and are excited to be moving into construction on a development that will deliver much needed student accommodation and affordable homes alongside genuinely useful spaces for the wider community.”
He added: “With institutional equity managed by PATRIZIA alongside Fabrix, together with £69.5m of development financing from Aviva Investors, Walworth Corners demonstrates our ability to structure, fund and deliver institutional quality living projects in London.”
Howells designed the scheme through planning and RIBA Stage 3, with AFK appointed as delivery architect. The development will combine new construction with the retention and extension of part of the existing concrete frame fronting Walworth Road, which the project team estimates will reduce structural embodied carbon emissions by 21%.
The all-electric development is targeting BREEAM Excellent and a 144% biodiversity net gain. Green and blue roofs will also form part of the project's approach to climate resilience and ecology.
Almost the entire ground floor has been designed for public-facing uses. Plans include a 2,600 sq ft community kitchen developed with local charity Pembroke House, 5,100 sq ft of high-street retail and a publicly accessible 6,240 sq ft courtyard garden designed by Harris Bugg Studio. A new pedestrian route through the 60-metre-long site will connect Walworth Road with the courtyard.
Tony Whyte, divisional director at McLaren Construction, said: “This project is an exemplar of sustainable, mixed-use development, combining the careful retention of part of the existing structure with high-quality new construction to create long-term social, economic and environmental value.”
For PATRIZIA, the project forms part of a wider strategy of directing institutional capital into housing across European markets.
Marleen Bekkers, fund manager at PATRIZIA, said: “Moving Walworth Corners into construction shows how institutional capital can translate into new homes in markets like London, where the need for housing remains significant.”
The appointment of McLaren completes another important step in that process at Walworth Corners. With planning, institutional equity, development finance and the main contractor now in place, the project has moved from an investment proposition into a live construction scheme.
