The Landing is going ahead says site developer

Despite the distinct absence of activity at The Landing, the site’s developer has said ‘rest assured, we are moving as quickly as we can’.

When the initial enabling and demolition works finished on February 14, it prompted whispers that the project had stalled.

However Damien Sharkey, managing director of HUB – the developer responsible for the scheme – has said ‘nothing’s changed’.

The Landing site is bordered by Queen Street, King Street and Broadway.

Plans for the project include four residential buildings providing 429 one, two and three-bedroom flats, two office buildings, 36,000sq ft of ground floor retail space, and a public realm.

Damien explained the six buildings HUB has permission for are hybrid plans, partially detailed and partially outline, which are being finalised.

He said construction cannot commence until planning permissions for the buildings are discharged.

Damien also said the majority of demolition and enabling works had been completed ahead of schedule.

The Landing is being built by HUB in partnership with Norway-based Smedvig, which owns the site.

Damien said: “These are large, complex projects and it takes a little while to bring everything together before we start actually taking the buildings out of the ground.”

He added: “You can rest assured we are moving as quickly as we can with all those aspects but there are no issues with delivering this project from our point of view.”

The tallest of the six buildings at the landing will be 16 storeys and the rest will step down – the shortest is a six-storey building.

Damien said HUB worked closely with the Royal Borough to determine these heights.

He acknowledged that the 16-storey building ‘is a little bit taller than the current tallest building in the town centre’, but that what is important is ‘the overall quality of the building’.

A qualified architect, Damien explained that even the smallest details have been given careful consideration to ‘ensure that what we design is beautiful’.

“It is very well considered. It’s been tested from a daylight, sunlight, overshadowing point of view to ensure it all works,” Damien said.

“We don’t just design tall buildings, we do all the studies to ensure a tall building is appropriate for the site and the building height here we believe is appropriate for this part of Maidenhead.”

Damien also said that a consultation was carried out with 1,500 people which influenced the appearance of the scheme.

“We had a very hard landscape and everyone told us they wanted green space in Maidenhead town centre, they wanted soft areas, they wanted play areas, so we’ve redesigned our public realm,” he said.

“So we’re creating more of a destination, so it’s a space we believe people will come to, whether that’s to eat a sandwich at lunch or come to have dinner in the evening.”

HUB has built out four schemes to date in Greater London and Damien said the aim is ‘always to build out schemes we’re very proud of’.

“Our ambition is when we build somewhere by the time its built out it has to set a new benchmark for quality in that area. We believe we have achieved that to date and we hope we can here in Maidenhead as well.”

It is expected the scheme will take three to four years to build but there is no definitive date as this depends on how the construction progresses when work does commence.

“The emerging plans for Maidenhead are extremely exciting,” said Damien.

“It’s a great location, it’s a brilliant town and we’re very, very excited to be one of the first movers in regenerating Maidenhead town centre.”