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White City & Wormholt ward, including TV Centre, Westfield & the Imperial Campus developments. See also neighbouring Shepherds Bush
Councillors:
Aherne,
MacMillan, and
Schmid.
We reported in the Winter 2019-2020 newsletter that a proposal was being prepared by Architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris for a new 25-storey tower block to the north of the A40 on Wood Lane.
The proposals replace Browning House, which is a 4-storey social housing block owned by 🔗Women’s Pioneer Housing (WPH). They are a housing association providing specialist accommodation.
🔗An application has been submitted for a 29-storey tower, the proposals increasing the number of 2-person, 1-bedroom flats for WPH from 36 to 80, plus creating an additional 350 co-living accommodation units to be rented by developer HUB. These provide compact 1-person studio flats serviced by communal kitchens, living spaces and other facilities.
One justification for the 29-storey tower is the approval granted for the recently completed 34-storey ‘Ziggurat’ tower on the Imperial College White City campus site on the opposite side of Wood Lane. The latter was unpopular locally, but was approved on the basis that it was within the White City Regeneration Area. Tall buildings are only permitted under LBHF Planning Policy and the Mayor’s London Plan if they are considered ‘appropriate’, and are within one of four development areas identified in the Local Plan.
The proposed tower is located outside of the White City development area, which raises the questions: how are applications decided for tall buildings located outside, but adjacent to the outer boundary of development areas ? And whether approvals within development areas can be used as precedent to justify nearby developments outside of the area, that would otherwise not comply with planning policy ?
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Our 12-page newsletter has been published, and printed copies circulated to subscribing members. Subjects include:
If you’re not yet a member, please join us to receive our latest newsletter. All newsletters that are available to download can be found here
Members of the Committee visited our 30th Annual Award Nominations on Sunday 19th May and shortlisted them. They’re all shown on the nominations page in their categories, with a selection here.
If you would like to comment on them, or make suggestions for winners, please use the comment form on the above page, or on Instagram.
Award winners will be announced at the AGM at Olympia on 12th June.
Members, guests, and friends will be warmly welcomed.
London Open House offers a wonderful opportunity to explore buildings all over London – including in our Borough. The full listing of 27 buildings open to see in H&F over the weekend of 22-23 September is available here. Why not also stroll or cycle round the nominations and winners of our own Environment Awards ?
And as the northern boundaries of the Borough become more important, on both dates there is a walk round part of the Old Oak & Park Royal Development Area led by art historian Magdalen Evans, details here
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Members of the Committee visited this year’s nominations on Sunday 20th May and shortlisted them. They are all shown on the nominations page with just a selection here. If you would like to comment on them, or make suggestions for winners, please use the comment form on the nominations page.
Award winners will be announced at the AGM in the Bush Theatre on 5th July.
Members, guests, and friends will be warmly welcomed.
The 8-page Spring Newsletter has been published and circulated to subscribing members. Subjects include:
If you’re not yet a member, please join us to receive our latest newsletter. All newsletters that are available to download can be found here
Westfield Phase 2 is nearing completion and will be opening soon including the John Lewis store. Westfield, Australian owned, are in the meantime selling out both White City and Stratford East to French giant Unibail-Rodamco for the small sum of £18.5billion and the sale should be completed in the Spring.
We were recently invited, together with members of the Historic Buildings Group, to look at proposals for the larger of the DIMCO buildings, the only Listed buildings remaining on site. This one is currently used by Transport for London for storing buses but come the completion of Phase 2 there will be a purpose built facility allowing the freeing up of the Listed shed. The current proposals, still at an early stage, are to convert the building into an entrainment/event venue. Although the the scheme involves inserting of a full mezzanine floor, none of the original fabric will be damaged so that all the interventions will be reversible. We liked the proposals in principle and our concerns were mainly centred on access and egress of up to 3000 people and the capacity of the adjoining streets and public transport system to cope with the potential surge of visitors.
Also in White City we were recently given a presentation of proposals for Centre House. On the site are the rather tired 1960’s buildings on the east side of Wood Lane opposite to old BBC tv centre. The buildings were all used as part of the BBC facility including prop storage, scene building and their engineering department. First sold to Helical Bar, then Imperial College, they will now transfer the site to St James who will develop approximately 520 units of housing, much of it for rent and specifically graduate accommodation for Imperial. It is another large scheme, mainly linear blocks of 9 storeys with a possible towers of 21 and 31 storeys. The architectural treatment has been well considered.
The landscape proposals are potentially excellent although there is limited private or public amenity space. Many of our concerns about scale, height and density and reduced open space have already been eclipsed by decisions already made on White City.
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The 12-page October Newsletter has been published and circulated to subscribing members. Subjects include:
If you’re not yet a member, please join us to receive our latest newsletter. All newsletters that are available to download can be found here
Small Sites policy in the new London Plan
Today’s #archivejigsaw is a London Underground poster for the 1910 Japan-British exhibition held in London. The exhibition was an attempt by Japan to introduce its culture to the West, and included Japanese gardens with imported trees, bridges and stones: orlo.uk/ACsMS
— Hammersmith Society @(HammersmithSoc) 2 days ago
We are pleased to announce that the new @LidlGB store will be opening in Kings Mall on Thursday 11th March. 🛒 🛍️ Read the full announcement here ⤵️ bit.ly/3bhb87q
— Hammersmith Society @(HammersmithSoc) 9 hours ago
@grantshapps @CharlotteV And #hammersmithbridge - of course !
— Hammersmith Society @(HammersmithSoc) 12 hours ago
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