Women’s Pioneer Housing, 227 Wood Lane

🔗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 ?

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.

Sovereign Court South

Paintbox Studios and Coffeeology

Dalling Road, St David’s Day 2019

Paradise gardens

Savoy Circus: Chapter student accommodation

Plants-not-pollution under flyover

st-augustines-church interior

Imperial West residential tower

Maison Samadi

Hammersmith Grove Parklets – West

Planters under flyover

White City Campus: Molecular Sciences building

Saffron – refurbished

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

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.

2018 Nancye Goulden Award: St Paul’s Girls School Pavilion

2018 Environment Award: TV Centre redevelopment

Planters, Lower Mall

Ark Conway Primary Academy

Westfield extension / John Lewis

LAMDA

Capability Brown wears a tiara for the Royal Wedding

2018 Environment Award: Helios TV centre

Riverside Studios – Crisp Road

BT InLinkUK “Phone box”

2018 Nancye Goulden Award: 2A Loftus Road

White City Place

2018 Environment Award: TV Centre redevelopment

Guerilla Gardening – tree pits in Galloway Road

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.

DIMCO buildings [Photo: Wikipedia: Alexander Williams]

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.