Arada London says it has submitted a planning application to the London Borough of Southwark for a mixed-use redevelopment of the former Salvation Army UK & Ireland headquarters at 101 Newington Causeway in Elephant & Castle.
The proposal is for 720 co-living homes, a 404-bed hotel, a street-level café, more than 9,000 sq ft of co-working space, gardens, landscaping and new pedestrian routes towards Elephant & Castle station and the town centre. The scheme is a planning submission only. It has not been approved, and the checked information does not establish any start on construction.
Application for former Salvation Army headquarters
The site was previously used as the headquarters of The Salvation Army UK & Ireland Territory. The Salvation Army relocated its headquarters to Denmark Hill in 2023. Arada London says it acquired the Newington Causeway site in December 2025, subject to planning consent, and that the application has been submitted in collaboration with The Salvation Army.
The proposals have been designed by PLP Architecture and are arranged across two buildings. The co-living element is planned within a 37-storey tower, while the hotel is planned within a separate 24-storey tower. Arada describes the overall project as a mixed-use development combining living, hospitality, workspace and public-realm improvements.
The current record confirms the submission of plans to Southwark, not a council decision. No planning committee date, application reference, construction timetable or project cost has been verified from the material checked. Any decision on whether the scheme can proceed would be made through the statutory planning process.
Co-living homes and shared amenities
The application proposes 720 co-living homes. Arada describes this as its first co-living development globally. The homes would be arranged with shared facilities, including dining, social and wellbeing spaces.
The proposal should not be read as conventional housing supply. Co-living is a distinct housing product, typically involving private living accommodation with shared communal facilities. The checked information does not verify pricing, a tenure split beyond co-living, or an affordable-housing offer. Those matters have not been established in the available record and should not be inferred from the headline number of homes.
Arada’s published description presents the residential element as part of a wider scheme intended to combine homes with workspaces, hospitality uses and landscaped areas. The planning assessment would determine whether that mix of uses is acceptable for the site.
Hotel, workspace and public realm
Alongside the co-living homes, the plans include a 404-bed hotel for business and leisure travellers. The hotel element is proposed with an open-plan lobby and all-day dining at ground level.
The co-living building is also proposed to include a café and a co-working hub of more than 9,000 sq ft, aimed at local start-ups and freelancers. At street level, the scheme is intended to provide active uses rather than a single private frontage.
The two buildings would be linked by gardens and landscaped spaces. The submitted plans also include new pedestrian routes towards Elephant & Castle station and the town centre. These public-realm elements form part of the planning proposal and remain subject to assessment by Southwark.
Design and planning status
The buildings are described as having concrete façades and stepped profiles. The design is intended to respond to the industrial character of Elephant & Castle and to the area’s emerging skyline. Terraces and shared spaces are planned within the upper parts of the buildings, while the ground-floor layout is intended to open parts of the site to public movement and activity.
Arada’s submission now enters the local planning process. The checked record does not confirm any consent, legal agreement, planning obligations, affordable-housing package or infrastructure contribution. Those issues, if relevant, would need to be considered through Southwark’s assessment of the application.
For now, the 101 Newington Causeway scheme remains a developer-led proposal for co-living homes, a hotel and workspace on the former Salvation Army headquarters site. Its scale, design, land-use mix and planning obligations have yet to be determined by the planning authority.
