King Street regeneration – developer picked

by Hammersmith and Fulham Press Office
05/02/2008

Following months of detailed analysis by experts in property, planning, finance and environment, Hammersmith and Fulham Council’s cabinet has voted in favour of an officers’ report recommending that Grainger/Helical Bar be made the preferred developer for the town hall site on King Street, Hammersmith.

An in-depth report from council officers rated the three rival schemes, from Galliford Try, St James’s Investments and Grainger/Helical Bar, on the three vital areas of quality, value for money and deliverability. The Grainger/Helical Bar proposals came first in each of these three tests.

The plans, which will now be debated in detail with residents, will involve the creation of a public piazza on the site of the ugly town hall extension as well as the creation of shops, homes, offices and civic buildings. 

Cllr Mark Loveday, H&F Cabinet Member for Strategy, says, “Our experts, who have spent months analysing complex data, believe that the Grainger/Helical Bar scheme is the best economically and aesthetically.”

The exciting plans from Grainger/Helical Bar include:

• Building a new bridge creating a step free connection across the A4 to reconnect King Street and the town hall to the river Thames.
• Recreating the public square to provide an appropriate setting for the Grade 2 listed town hall including the reintroduction of the steps at the front by demolishing the ugly and outdated council extension.
• Providing a development that enhances the area and acts a stimulus to Hammersmith’s high street and enhances the quality of the shops and restaurants available to the local community through a new medium sized food store, small shops, restaurants and cafes around the recreated public square.
• Providing new offices including some for the council creating a single civic centre with the listed town hall as its focus.
• Providing a range of 290 new homes, both affordable and private, with a new home zone on Cromwell Avenue.    

Cllr Loveday continues, “This is a vital project for Hammersmith and it must be of the highest quality. Too many of these schemes in the past looked tired almost before they were completed. I want future generations to be proud of the town hall and after months of detailed analysis the proposals from Grainger/Helical Bar were clearly the outstanding choice.”