Plans for the Hammersmith Town Hall site have been approved.
The planning committee at Hammersmith & Fulham Council approved the plans Tuesday night (12 February 2019) to breathe new life into the western end of King Street by building a new cinema, new affordable homes and a revitalised civic campus.
The plans include a start-up space for the entrepreneurs in the borough, homework space for local schoolchildren, and the transformation of Grade II-listed Hammersmith Town Hall into a modern public building.
Cllr Stephen Cowan, Leader of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, commented: “This is an important moment in our mission to revitalise Hammersmith because it will breathe new life into the western end of King Street,”
“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.
“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 People’s Commission 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.”
The council will kickstart the ambitious project by demolishing the Town Hall extension, while transforming the historic town hall building into an energy-efficient civic campus for the community.
The scheme has benefited from the experience and wisdom of the borough’s Independent Disabled People’s Commission who have worked tirelessly with 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, added: “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.”
Danny Lynch, Director of Land and Development at A2Dominion, commented: “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, added: “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.”