14 February 2019

Plans to revitalise the western end of King Street are approved

Plans approved to build a new cinema, new genuinely affordable homes and a revitalised civic campus on King Street.

Categories:
Planning

Artist's impression of the view from King Street showing the new public square

Plans to build a new cinema, new genuinely affordable homes and a revitalised civic campus at the western end of King Street have been approved.

The planning committee at Hammersmith & Fulham Council approved the plans Tuesday night (12 February) to breathe new life into the western end of King Street.

The plans include for start-up space for the borough’s entrepreneurs, homework space for local schoolchildren, and the the transformation of Grade II-listed Hammersmith Town Hall into a modern public building at the heart of the community.

“This is an important moment in our mission to revitalise Hammersmith because it will breathe new life into the western end of King Street,” said Cllr Stephen Cowan, Leader of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham.

“The new four-screen cinema, new genuinely affordable homes, new public rooftop bar and restaurant and new public square are some of the factors that will rejuvenate the area and create a new Hammersmith neighbourhood.

The Town Hall will be transformed into a civic campus for residents which will have homework space for local children, start up space for local entrepreneurs, and space that can be used for many community activities throughout the week - such as a pop up art gallery.

“I am extremely grateful to our partners, the architects and particularly to all the local residents who helped make this scheme something I think everyone who cares about our borough will be extremely proud of.

“Those residents include the volunteers who led the independent Town Hall Commission, the volunteers on the Disabled Residents Team and the hundreds of local people who attended the four public exhibitions and took the time to advise us on many aspects of this project’s design and function.”

Artist's impression of the view from King Street showing the new cinema

The revised scheme

The council will kickstart the ambitious project by demolishing the ugly Town Hall extension, while transforming the historic town hall building into an energy-efficient civic campus for the community.

The scheme will also see the following delivered to Hammersmith:

A new four-screen cinema, with room for cafes, shops and restaurants built on the existing cinema and car park site
204 new homes of which 52 per cent will be classified as genuinely affordable for local residents
A new public rooftop bar and restaurant
New community art and event spaces
New affordable, flexible office spaces for start-up businesses
New public space for performances and events in front of the restored Town Hall
New homework spaces for children and students
Inclusively designed buildings to ensure full access for Disabled people
Eco-friendly buildings to minimise our carbon footprint and cut fuel bills.

Opening up the Town Hall to the public, local start-up businesses and partner agencies will support H&F’s mission to modernise the council’s culture and deliver the best public services. And the new civic campus will allow the council to cut building maintenance and rental costs.

Working together

The scheme has benefited from the experience and wisdom of the borough’s Independent Disabled Residents Team who have worked with us to design a fully accessible building, as well as resident volunteers who worked (without pay) as our Independent Town Hall Commissioners.

They’ve worked tirelessly with our architects Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and the developer A2Dominion to help deliver a scheme that will benefit the borough for decades and significantly improve Hammersmith.

Richard Winterton, chair of the Hammersmith Town Hall Commission, said: “We acted as a wholly independent, voluntary group to inject a citizen’s perspective on the developing design of the scheme. We firmly support the application, in particular the transformation of the original town hall building and the new town square, the number of affordable homes, and the new four-screen cinema.”

Jane Wilmot, from the H&F Disabled Residents Team, said: “Barriers faced by Disabled people in using buildings and open spaces were raised early before plans were submitted rather than left to detailed design at a later stage. This way of working together allowed robust solutions to be found early as well as saving time and money for the developer. This is most unusual and should be adopted in all major development projects.”

Danny Lynch, Director of Land and Development at A2Dominion, said: “This development will address the shortage of good quality affordable homes in Hammersmith, create better facilities for the community and improve connectivity to the riverside. We look forward to working with our partners to deliver a scheme which makes better use of the land and creates genuinely affordable homes for local residents.”

And Mark Rintoul, Project Architect at Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, said: “The council’s pioneering collaboration with multiple stakeholders and local amenity groups has defined this truly community-led development to deliver a civic campus with access for all.”