The Deputy Mayor for London Jules Pipe has approved Rockwell's plans to redevelop the Kensington Forum hotel. The £1bn scheme is set to become one of London’s largest hotels.

The development bought forward in partnership with Queensgate Investments, will provide a world-class hotel and serviced apartment scheme alongside 62 genuinely affordable homes and substantial public realm improvements.

Designed by SimpsonHaugh, the new scheme will replace the existing 906 room hotel with an exceptional high-quality development providing outstanding visitor accommodation for the future including restaurants, bars, health spa and conference facilities, vital to supporting London’s continued role as a world city and major global destination. Alongside the hotel will be a new, publicly accessible and sensitively designed 2,700sqm garden square, more than doubling the size of the existing green space, which will be the only publicly accessible green area within 1km of the site.

Kensington Forum is now set to deliver substantial public benefits for the local community through the creation of over 800 employment opportunities, in addition to 62 much-needed and genuinely affordable rented homes, worth £90m, for Londoners on low incomes: the capital’s first private development to deliver 100% genuinely affordable homes. Substantial contributions of almost £3 million will also be provided for public realm improvements to the area around Gloucester Road station, in addition to over £1 million to training initiatives to ensure jobs are created for the most in need.