Planners have approved Fraser Brown MacKenna Architects’ £33m student residence complex for the University of East London.

The scheme is on the Royal Albert Dock overlooking London City Airport. It comprises 132 flats and 139 self-contained studios within five seven-storey blocks perpendicular to the dock. A series of informal collegiate courtyards line the dock edge, and a cafe and shop complete the development, which is part of a £110m campus expansion programme. The project, which has received the backing of CABE and the Greater London Authority’s Architecture and Urbanism Unit and was approved by Newham council at a planning committee meeting on 16 March, is due for completion in late 2006.