Six Storey Block and Mews Houses Planned for Goldhawk Road

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Locally-listed building to be demolished to make way

The plans include the construction of 36 homes on the site. Picture: Wyrd Tree

February 6, 2024

An ‘underutilised’ site on Goldhawk Road near Hammersmith Academy is being eyed up for new homes and office space. Fit Out UK, an interior fit-out contractor which counts Sainsbury’s and Tesco among its clients, is looking to transform the thin stretch of land in Shepherd’s Bush into a combination of flats and mews-style houses, while also greening the area with new planting and walkways.

The current structures on the site to the north east of Ravenscourt Park, which include a depot and two buildings listed locally by Hammersmith and Fulham Council, are to be demolished under the plans.

Of the 36 homes, 24 will be apartments in a four-to-six storey building, with the remaining 12 to be the mews-style houses. The majority will be two-bedroom, though nine one-bedroom, six three-bedroom, and one four-bedroom units are also included in the plans. Just over 36% of the total rooms are listed as ‘affordable’, spread across 12 of the proposed homes.

According to the application, Fit Out UK, which has owned the site since 2005, decided to relocate following a recent expansion. It will however retain a presence within the new office space, “ensuring their commitment to the development and its ongoing maintenance and security”.

As well as the homes, Fit Out UK is proposing to landscape the area, with application documents showing plans ranging from tree planting and climbers to a ‘linear park’, which will include a wooden play route and an interactive play wall. A consultation, carried out in July last year, indicated local support for the scheme, though some concerns were raised regarding the height of the building and the impact on local services.

A visualisation of the mews houses planned. Picture: Wyrd Tree

While the two locally-listed buildings on-site are to be demolished if the application is granted approval, a heritage assessment deemed this to be acceptable, due to recent alterations leaving them ‘substantially diminished’.

“The site provides an opportunity to enhance the townscape along Goldhawk Road with the replacement of the existing severely compromised buildings with a building and architecture of high quality that not only enhances its setting but contributes positively to the wider Borough,” the application notes.

The site on Goldhawk Road to be developed. Picture: Google Streetview

The scheme was originally designed to include 76 co-living homes, as well as space for classrooms and admin areas for Hammersmith Academy. Several rounds of revisions then followed, before the current plans were filed with Hammersmith and Fulham Council.

Julian de Metz, Founding Director at dMFK Architects which drew up the plans, said, “Our proposals have been guided by community consultation and neighbouring buildings and provide a high-quality design, respectful of local character and of neighbours’ privacy and amenity. The 12 mews homes are situated within the existing boundary walls to create a shared garden that encourages neighbours to spend time outside and with one another.”

Fit Out UK was approached for comment, but had not responded at the time of publication.

 

Ben Lynch – Local Democracy Reporter