X

Ikea building and renting an entire neighbourhood in London

Ikea is building and renting out an entire neighbourhood of homes in London, near the Olympic site.

Richard Trenholm
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
Richard Trenholm
ikea-1.jpg
1 of 2

Ikea wants to build you a house. Not a pine bookcase, not a nice little side table, not a quirkily colourful kitchen implement -- an entire house. The Swedish furniture company is building and renting out an entire neighbourhood of homes in London.

No, really. The Ikea neighbourhood -- Ikeahood? Ikeatown? -- is to be located in east London, near the Olympic site. It will be named Strand East and filled with families and leafy pedestrian boulevards.

The 11-hectare site will be criss-crossed by car-free streets, lined with five-storey townhouses, each backed by a mews of two-storey homes and a couple of 11-storey apartment blocks. There'll be 1,200 homes in total, nearly half of which are aimed at families, and all of which are for rental.

Offices and hotels round out the development, with a riverside park and communal courtyard gardens for when the weather's suitably balmy. Betting shops and other such unpleasantness will be banned. Whether newsagents will only be allowed to stock The Guardian and Wired is unknown as yet.

Strand East will be built in 2013 amid the decrepit canals and derelict docklands of East London, not far from the area taken over by the fast-approaching Olympics. Cars will be hidden away in an underground car park, and it'll be powered by a hydroelectric plant, with waste carried away by underground suction tunnels.

Now, I used to live in Stratford, and while I can confirm it is technically East of the Strand, the name is a bit on the misleading side. It does sound nice, if bland -- although I like the sound of a hydroelectric plant and suction tunnels. Would you live in an Ikea house? Furnish me with your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.

Building. Ikea. Rabbit. Oh, that's typical -- you get to the end and there's always a few bits left over.

ikea-3.jpg
2 of 2

More Galleries

My Favorite Shots From the Galaxy S24 Ultra's Camera
A houseplant

My Favorite Shots From the Galaxy S24 Ultra's Camera

20 Photos
Honor's Magic V2 Foldable Is Lighter Than Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra
magic-v2-2024-foldable-1383

Honor's Magic V2 Foldable Is Lighter Than Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra

10 Photos
The Samsung Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus Looks Sweet in Aluminum
Samsung Galaxy S24

The Samsung Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus Looks Sweet in Aluminum

23 Photos
Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra Now Has a Titanium Design
The Galaxy S24 Ultra in multiple colors

Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra Now Has a Titanium Design

23 Photos
I Took 600+ Photos With the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. Look at My Favorites
img-0368.jpg

I Took 600+ Photos With the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. Look at My Favorites

34 Photos
17 Hidden iOS 17 Features You Should Definitely Know About
Invitation for the Apple September iPhone 15 event

17 Hidden iOS 17 Features You Should Definitely Know About

18 Photos
AI or Not AI: Can You Spot the Real Photos?
img-1599-2.jpg

AI or Not AI: Can You Spot the Real Photos?

17 Photos