Ken Livingstone confirmed that the London Borough of Newham resolved to grant outline planning permission last week for the 24 hectares (59 acre) site and revealed the plans for Biota! a world-class aquarium designed by renowned architect Terry Farrell & Partners, as part of the plans for Silvertown Quays.

Ken Livingstone says: "The aquarium at Silvertown Quays will be an international visitor attraction worthy of Europe's world class city. The Zoological Society of London, which will operate the aquarium is well-known worldwide for its research and conservation efforts. We will be encouraging Londoners to take part in fundraising initiatives to support ZSL and progress this exciting new visitor attraction at the heart of the developments planned for Silvertown Quays."

The redevelopment of the Silvertown Quays site, adjacent to the Royal Victoria Dock, London E16, is the largest site to receive outline planning permission in the Thames Gateway area. It is a vital element of the overall Thames Gateway concept, linking London City Airport, the river and existing residential and leisure schemes.

Joint developers Silvertown Quays Limited (SQL), Kajima Urban Development International (KUD) and landowners, the London Development Agency (LDA), are planning a major mixed use waterfront scheme of 494,020 sq m (5.3 m sq ft), including 4,930 residential units (including social rented and affordable housing) in addition to 16,550 m2 (178,149 sq ft) of leisure facilities that includes the aquatic visitor attraction. The site was masterplanned by Urban Strategies International (USI) a specialist practice from Toronto, Canada.

David Taylor, Chairman of SQL, says: "We are delighted to officially launch Silvertown Quays and announce the outline planning consent from the London Borough of Newham. We are revealing a world-class mixed-use development with the highest of design standards, symbolising the regeneration of Silvertown Quays and the Thames Gateway."

Tony Winterbottom, Executive Director of Regeneration and Development at the London Development Agency, comments: "This centre will not only help with major conservation efforts, it will provide a welcome boost to the local economy by attracting further investment in the area and providing long-term job opportunities."

Marvin Suomi, Chairman, KUD Limited, adds: "We will be applying the lessons we have learnt from developing large-scale aquarium projects worldwide, to produce a stunning attraction which is unlike anything else in Europe. It will put aquatic conservation on the map in this continent."

Biota! the 14, 500 sqm aquarium is strikingly designed and will present the global diversity of aquatic life through four strongly contrasting biomes recreating complete ecosystems with plants, fish, free flying birds, mammals and other animals.

The building is arranged around a central atrium and the first floor houses the open ocean and coral reef exhibits with day-lit biomes on the upper floors. The exhibit areas represent diverse world habitats - the Amazon, the British Isles, the Indo-Pacific, and the Atlantic Ocean. The fifth exhibit area, 'Living Conservation', focuses on protecting aquatic species and their habitats, the underlying message of Biota!

As well as being a centre of excellence for aquatic conservation, the centre will also carry out scientific research and education overseen by ZSL. Breeding programmes for critically endangered species are just one of the many projects that will be undertaken at the centre which will be linked to others around the world including: Project Seahorse (Philippines), Babai River Project (Nepal) and the Cabo Delgado sustainable ecotourism project (Mozambique).

Dr Heather Koldeway, Senior Curator of the aquarium, ZSL says: "The vision of ZSL is to encourage people to act to protect valuable and threatened habitats through education and research. Research undertaken here will aid both captive management of endangered species and the promotion of conservation in the wild."

The visitor attraction is scheduled to open in 2008.