McLaren Living gets go-ahead for Fish Island co-living
Wansbeck Road scheme will deliver 280 co-living studios and 44 affordable homes
23 September 2026
McLaren Living has secured planning approval for a 324-home co-living and affordable housing development at Fish Island in Hackney Wick.
Tower Hamlets Council has approved the Wansbeck Road scheme, which will provide 280 co-living studios alongside 44 affordable homes across two buildings of 10 and seven storeys.
Designed by HTA Design, the project will bring forward the final development plot within the wider Neptune Wharf masterplan. The scheme, at the corner of Wansbeck Road and Monier Road, combines the two forms of housing with communal facilities, flexible event space and new public realm.
The co-living building will include a social co-working café, library, gym and studio space, while communal areas throughout the development will provide shared kitchens, dining rooms, social and cinema rooms, creative spaces and laundry facilities.
The separate affordable housing element has been designed with an emphasis on family-sized and dual-aspect homes where possible. Gallery-style access will be used to increase daylight and natural ventilation while providing passive surveillance across communal areas. HTA Design has drawn on Fish Island's textile heritage for the architecture, using a “weft and weave” concept across the façades.
The co-living building will feature a grid of brick piers intended to emphasise its vertical proportions, while the affordable housing block will use continuous balcony bands and layered brickwork to create a more horizontal appearance.
A landscaped courtyard will sit between the buildings, alongside new public realm intended to connect the development with the surrounding Fish Island neighbourhood. Existing mature trees around the boundaries of the site will be retained.
The development will be car-free and incorporates a series of measures intended to improve drainage and urban greening, including rain gardens, bioswales and permeable paving. Roof-mounted photovoltaic panels will provide renewable energy, while the scheme has been designed to achieve BREEAM Excellent.
The development is located between Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and Victoria Park, with Stratford and Westfield Stratford City also nearby. Fish Island and neighbouring Hackney Wick have undergone substantial residential and commercial regeneration in recent years, with former industrial sites increasingly accommodating new housing and workspace.
Wansbeck Road adds co-living to that mix, targeting the professional rental market while delivering conventional affordable housing within the same development. Approval also clears the way for the final plot of the Neptune Wharf masterplan to be developed, completing another stage of the wider transformation of Fish Island.
