181 Talgarth Road is the site where the former West London Magistrates building stands, located between the Ark office building and the BP garage, at the foot of the flyover.

West London Magistrates court: Initial design – now superseded

After the closing of the court facilities in 2017, the site was sold for commercial use, and in January 2019 the new owner submitted a planning application for a 800-bed  hotel development.  The proposals attracted widespread opposition from the local community including the Hammersmith Society, and as a result, in an unusual and public-spirited move, the developer, 🔗The Dominvs Group, chose to set aside the application, despite receiving a planning report recommending approval.

After discussions with LBHF, the Dominvs Group appointed a new design team with architects Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners (RSHP), who are also the architects for the Town Hall Civic Campus project.

West London Magistrates Court: RSHP redesign

The new design team were set to work to a demanding programme, and the Society joined a series of consultation meetings with the site neighbours, in particular the residents of the streets south of the site, whose outlook would have been dominated by the double slab block of the earlier scheme.

A planning application for the new scheme was lodged at the beginning of April, and the Society has now reviewed the proposals and returned comments to LBHF. The application may be viewed on the planning website here: 🔗2020/00915/FUL. 

UPDATED: Our detailed review is here:
 Letter to LBHF – Hammersmith Society comments

According to King’s College, the reference for air quality measurements, London is the 2,516th most polluted city in the world

We think that climate change is the key issue here, and which if properly addressed, would deal with many of today’s air quality issues. The reference work ‘Mortality Effects of Long-Term Exposure to Particulate Air Pollution in the United Kingdom’ (A report by the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants [COMEAP], updated 2018), says clearly in its executive summary ‘As everyone dies eventually no lives are ever saved by reducing environmental exposures – deaths are delayed resulting in increased life expectancy.’

Air quality in London started deteriorating about 400 years ago, and for the entire time the Georgians and Victorians were painting the globe pink, sulphur dioxide was around 40 times the current WHO guideline level of 20 µg/m³. It was in fact raining sulphuric acid AKA ‘acid rain’, the effects of which can be seen on the Palace of Westminster or in Turner’s paintings.  The Great Smog of 1952 that killed perhaps 12,000 appears as a peak on the graph, and created a level over 10 times the level it is now, but our nonagenarian, and in one case centenarian parents survived and are still here with us, begging the question what effect it had on long term life expectancy.

The answer from COMEAP is around six months if you could (unrealistically) remove 100% of all air pollution from all sources, or more realistically 20 days per µg/m³ removed, plus you have to live to those grand old ages otherwise healthy.  Not as much as the headlines or Twitterati would have it.

Of course this isn’t a complete list of pollutants, there’s PM2.5, PM10, NO₂, and Ozone which have differing WHO thresholds as shown here, and those with respiratory conditions are much more affected than others, explaining 🔗most of the 1952 deaths.

Planters under flyover

St. Augustine’s – Interior

St. Augustine’s interior

Hammersmith Grove Parklets – East

Paintbox Studios and Coffeeology

Plants not pollution – Hammersmith Flyover

Hammersmith Grove Parklets – West

Summary

In our 30th year of Awards, we renamed our Conservation Award the Tom Ryland Award for Conservation in honour of our past Chairman. We were delighted to present it for the first time to St. Augustine’s Church in Fulham Palace Road.

There were four Nancye Goulden Awards this year, in two distinct pairs, all are projects which have made positive contributions to the Hammersmith streetscape.

The first two are King Street shop fronts: Paintbox Studios and Coffeeology. The other two awards recognise another type of improvement to the streetscape in the form of the Hammersmith Grove Parklets and The Planting under the Flyover.  The wooden spoon went to phase 1 of Sovereign Court.

We were also given a detailed presentation by SSPARC architects covering the history of Olympia and the extensive redevelopment plans, followed by an update from RSHP architects covering the Town Hall redevelopment plans. In a Q&A session, Councillor Wesley Harcourt kindly gave us an impromptu update on the Hammersmith Bridge situation.

Click on the newsletter image to open the pdf 

The Special 20-page Anniversary Newsletter has been published, celebrating 30 years of Hammersmith Society Awards. Printed copies are being distributed to subscribing members.

Hammersmith Highline location (photo: Hammersmith BID)

We’re intrigued by the possibility of a linear park or alternative use for the disused part of the District Line viaduct between the Kings Mall flats and the new Sovereign Court, as proposed by Hammersmith BID and West London Link (known for the Flyunder concept) as part of the London Festival of Architecture 2019.  Inspired by the New York highline and the Promenade Plantée in Paris that preceded it, there’s a competition open for ideas – details here. The project has it’s own Twitter page, where you can follow progress.

Given the challenges of the location and some of the similarities, we’re attracted to the new tropical roof garden above the Crossrail station at Canary Wharf as a source of inspiration, but the site will lend itself to many interpretations, so do please take part if you have ideas.

TfL has issued its response to previous consultations on the cycle route from Kensington Olympia through Hammersmith and Chiswick, and says construction of the route on the north side of the Hammersmith Broadway gyratory will begin this year.

There are no substantial alterations to the section from Hammersmith Broadway to the end of King Street. Local criticism had centred on the congestion of traffic and pedestrians, and the  likely delays for buses if the roadway is narrowed at the east end of King Street to make space for a segregated two-way cycle lane: TfL says delivery vehicles will use parking bays or park in Blacks Road or Angel Walk. We are sceptical as to whether that message will get through to security service vans delivering to banks, for example.

There were also worries about  increased risk to pedestrians from cyclists. TfL has decided to drop the term “Super-Highway”, saying it sends the wrong message. A local family cycling group has welcomed the scheme, so let’s not forget it is not just fast commuter cyclists who want cycle lanes.  But the TfL report specifically excludes the option of a commuter route parallel to the length of the A4, and is vague about the prospect of a fast route in Hammersmith,  which the Council announced last month. 

We understand LBHF is having further discussions with TfL.

 Click on the report image to download it from TfL.

Magistrate’s Court site (graphic: JLL/HM Courts service)

An exhibition of plans for a new development on the site of the former Hammersmith Magistrate’s Court is being held on Friday 23 November 3-6pm, and Saturday 24 November 12-3 pm at the adjacent Lila Huset Professional Centre, 191 Talgarth Road W6 8BJ.

This site is between the Ark/Lila Huset and the Talgarth Road BP garage as shown. The planning consultants say: “The proposals include two complimentary hotels which will bring with them significant community benefits. The site has potential to deliver a significant number of jobs, community meeting space, rehearsal space for local performing arts groups, a rooftop bar and terrace, the largest living green wall in London, affordable workspace to meet the needs of the Council’s Industrial Strategy and a new publicly accessible garden square”.

Do go and look at the exhibition – as always, keep an eye out for height and density, and check to see if the fine view of the unique Ark is still retained as one approaches Hammersmith.

Update – we wrote this letter of objection in March 2019, the application was subsequently withdrawn in October 2019 before reaching the planning committee. We understand a revised application will be submitted in due course, on which we will report.