£1bn Basin project rising beside canal

These pictures show one of the final pieces in the jigsaw of the huge Paddington Basin development.

Work has just begun on the first of six buildings which will make up the £1billion Merchant Square complex.

The 3.2-acre site was originally earmarked for a new health campus to replace three dilapidated hospitals but, as costs soared, the project collapsed in 2005.

At the time ministers were publicly reprimanded for the blunders, which wasted £15million.

Now owner European Land has secured permission for a mix of commercial, retail and residential buildings clustered around a public square beside the Grand Union Canal.

European Land - owned by development company Pearcroft and the Reuben brothers' firm Aldersgate - has already built Paddington Walk flats and the Orange and M&S headquarters.

Merchant Square is to be completed by 2012, with the first building opening in November 2009.

See more pictures on the Standard's website.

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