The Riverside Club Archives

Berkeley Capital has completed the full suite of amenities at its Poplar development including pools, a screening room and a gym

The main pool at The Riverside Club, now open at Heron Wharf - image supplied by Berkeley Capital — The main pool at The Riverside Club, now open at Heron Wharf – image supplied by Berkeley Capital

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Seeing is believing. But so is touching and feeling.

This is why the completion of on-site amenities at developments can be such a key asset when appealing to buyers.

Rather than relying on computer generated promises, the ability to actually walk into and experience the facilities you’re investing in is an attractive prospect in a competitive market.

With that in mind, Berkeley Group’s Heron Wharf scheme on the River Lea is now at an advantage.

The development has just unveiled The Riverside Club – an extensive suite of residents’ amenities extending to some 16,000sq ft.

Spread over two levels, these include a 20m swimming pool, a separate vitality pool, a sauna, a steam room and a chamber lined with Himalayan pink salt.

There’s also an extensive gym, a screening room, a games room and a residents’ lounge.

The finish is akin to a high-end spa, a five-star hotel and a luxury cinema.

The development now has a fully equipped games room - image supplied by Berkeley Capital — The development now has a fully equipped games room – image supplied by Berkeley Capital

an extensive suite of amenities at Heron Wharf

“It’s quite a collection,” said Luke Treadwell, sales and marketing director for Berkeley Capital.

“Heron Wharf is a development where we’re selling a lifestyle.

“With Berkeley as a brand, you’re very much buying into what you can do on-site – rather than having to leave the area to go to the gym or swim, we have the facilities here for people to do that, but also to congregate and to work.”

The company is currently marketing one, two and three-bedroom apartments at the scheme in newly completed buildings The Millhouse and The Heron Collection.

These feature open-plan living areas, fully fitted kitchens with Bosch appliances and private balconies.

The blocks are located in a richly landscaped site on the edge of the River Lea with a concierge service to look after residents’ needs.

However, it’s the newly opened communal facilities that add a carousel of further selling points.

The salt room offer a space to relax - image supplied by Berkeley Capital — The salt room offer a space to relax – image supplied by Berkeley Capital

proudly front and centre

“We specialise in large regeneration schemes, but what we’ve done with The Riverside Club is a step up on anything else we’re offering across the group at the moment,” said Lyndon Nunn, divisional sales and marketing director at Berkeley Capital.

“The facilities aren’t in a basement – we’ve put the pools on the first floor so they get lots of natural light and the benefit of the views over the park and the river.

“The residents who are now using the club have been absolutely blown away by it and that demonstrates why it’s so important for us to put in these staple offerings this early in a scheme.

“The people who are already living here bought into Berkeley’s vision for the site early on, when all they could see were computer generated images of what it would be like.

“We think it looks even better now it’s finished.

“They can now come into the spaces, touch them and feel the quality of the finishes.

“These are absolutely world class facilities and we know that word-of mouth from those who experience them will amplify that message.

“As a brand, it’s vital for us that people see not only the fact that we deliver what we say we will, but that we exceed those expectations.

“We’ve put these facilities in, despite only having a comparatively small number of homes on site right now, but we think that’s an important part of establishing this development for the months and years to come.

“That way residents get the benefit quicker.”

The complex features a comfy screening room - image supplied by Berkeley Capital — The complex features a comfy screening room – image supplied by Berkeley Capital

depth beyond the pools at The Riverside Club

While the showstopper attraction at The Riverside Club is clearly its pools and poolside area, which come complete with plenty of relaxing loungers, there’s depth to the offering too.

The fitness facilities are decked out with TechnoGym equipment found in luxury health clubs and the screening room and games room are both slickly appointed.

“We’re always thinking about how people will come together and actually use these spaces,” said Luke.

“A big part of what Berkeley does is place making to help foster that sense of community we know our residents want.

“At Heron Wharf we wanted to ensure we weren’t just offering something buyers could find elsewhere and I think we’ve achieved that.”

The group’s next focus is on the commercial offering at Heron Wharf with the business hoping to attract core amenities to operate alongside the on-site Sainsbury’s Local.

Heron Wharf is located on the River Lea to the north-east of Aberfeldy Village in Poplar.

The scheme is about 13 minutes’ walk to East India DLR station and roughly 20 minutes from Canning Town station.

It is also linked to Canary Wharf via the D8 bus. Alternatively, it takes about 15 minutes to cycle to the estate or nine minutes to drive.

Plans have now been submitted to build a bridge over the Lea as part of the development, which should further improve connectivity in the coming years.

Residents can work from The Riverside Club's lounge - image supplied by Berkeley Capital — Residents can work from The Riverside Club’s lounge – image supplied by Berkeley Capital

key details: Heron Wharf

Apartments at Heron Wharf start at £455,000 with one, two and three-bedroom properties available.

You can find out more about the development here

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Head of sales and marketing Doug Acton on how 20 years of regeneration will create and urban resort

An artist's impression of the first phase of Poplar Riverside — An artist’s impression of the first phase of Poplar Riverside

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“I call it an urban resort,” said Doug Acton, head of sales and marketing at Berkeley Group and the man responsible for driving the success of its Poplar Riverside development.

“It’s close to nature and it has facilities such as a gym, a pool, a spa, a cinema room, shops, bars and restaurants.

“It could almost be a self-contained little town, but it’s open to everyone – somewhere to get away from the hustle and bustle of Canary Wharf.”

To describe Poplar Riverside as ‘tucked away’ is both accurate and somehow inappropriate.

Officially launched in June last year, the development covers a 20-acre site, will take around two decades to build and will see about 2,800 homes delivered in the East End.

This is major regeneration by Berkeley division St William – a project that will also provide a new 2.5-acre public park, a couple of bridges across the Rvier Lea, 500m of riverside walkway, 90,000sq ft of commercial space. The list goes on and on.

But take the 20-minute stroll over to the site from Canary Wharf to the soft tranquillity of Leven Road on a sunny day and you’ll find it’s something of an oasis, albeit one where the concrete superstructures of its first phase have quietly risen.

The waters of the Lea flow lazily past as cranes perform their slow-motion ballet. There’s something happening here and it’s only just begun.

Head of sales and marketing at Berkeley Group, Doug Acton

“When people come here, they’re really excited about the regeneration story – they can see it’s a part of this massive growth corridor that’s happening along the river,” said Doug.

“They can see the potential with our investment in things like the bridges – how that improves the connectivity to Canning Town station.

“The challenge for us is getting more people to come here. Once they see it, they know it really is a transformation, that it’s a step change.”

And “step” is the right word, because Poplar Riverside is a scheme of many levels.

There are the public parks and walkways themselves and, of course, the river, all framing the buildings.

Then there are raised podium gardens for residents, underground parking and private balconies lining the pointed elevations of the brick-clad blocks.

It’s partly the attraction of these features that have seen buyers purchase about 100 of the 156 homes at the first building in the first phase of Poplar Riverside – Calico House.

The next to go on sale will be Porter House, which is right on the river and is expected to hit the market in July.

That will be followed by Bowline House and Sisal House, which all together complete the first phase with 643 properties.

Construction of the first phase of Poplar Riverside

“With Porter House we’ll be launching three-bedroom homes for the first time to go alongside the studios, one and two-bedroom homes available,” said Doug.

“It’s right next to the Lea so many will overlook the river and enjoy views across the London skyline.

“They will also benefit from the Leven Banks park, which includes a children’s playground, so it’s an exciting block to release.

“One of the things we’re really good at as a company, having learnt from projects like Royal Arsenal Riverside in Woolwich and Kidbrooke Village in Greenwich, is that you would never know, as a resident, that construction is going on.

“We commit to the landscape nice and early, not as an afterthought, so people moving in can enjoy it.

A range of properties are available at the development

“We’re also constantly speaking to our residents to get feedback and find out what they want and what they don’t.

“One of the things we’re creating at this development is the Riverside Club – 16,000sq ft of facilities that will help foster community here.”

Laid out over two floors that includes a co-working space, a cinema room, meeting rooms and a games room as well as a residents’ lounge, a spa, steam room, sauna, salt room and a 20m swimming pool.

“We also have The Great Room,” said Doug, who was recruited by Berkeley from the luxury hotel industry to help it deliver the kinds of facilities normally found at such resorts at its residential property developments.

“It’s somewhere to work, play and meet just so people can have that strong sense of community.

“We’re really keen to create that feeling of togetherness and that goes for families as well – it’s not just for adults.”

All apartments at Poplar Riverside feature outdoor space

The homes themselves feature floor-to-ceiling windows, underfloor heating, Bosch appliances in the kitchens and Italian terrazzo worktops.

All have some form of outdoor space and the two-bedroom show home features a jack and jill main bathroom, effectively offering both bedrooms en suite facilities.

“There’s mood lighting in the bathrooms and good storage comes as standard,” said Doug.

“There’s even a nod to the golden age of industry with the taps and that’s a theme we’ve carried throughout the properties.

“The principal bedroom has built-in wardrobes and there’s an option to have those in the second bedroom too.

“We know storage is really important, so we’ve also put full-height cupboards in the kitchens to maximise the use of space.”

Properties currently on sale at Poplar Riverside start at £410,000. The earliest completions are expected in the second half of this year.

The Poplar Riverside sales and marketing suite, which includes a two-bedroom show apartment, is open for viewings.

An artist's impression of open space at Poplar Riverside — An artist’s impression of open space at Poplar Riverside

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