Hammersmith Society Belatedly Celebrates 2025 Awards
King Street rain gardens and New Timber Yard among the projects recognised
New Timber Yard Award Winners: Orla Murray of Thackeray Estates, Sam Langtree & Fiona of Frost Architects. Picture: Anne Farthing
February 23, 2026
The Hammersmith Society celebrated its 2025 Awards at the delayed AGM on Monday 9 February, held in the recital hall at Latymer Upper School.
The event drew an impressive turnout of members, and two of the borough’s MPs were able to join the evening. The awards were introduced by vice-chairman Richard Winterton and presented by the Mayor of Hammersmith & Fulham, Cllr Sharon Holder.
This year’s AGM also marked an important moment of transition for the Society. After completing a dedicated three-year term, Richard Farthing stepped down as chairman. Members elected Angela Clarke MBE as the new chair, alongside several newly appointed committee members who will help guide the organisation through a period of significant change in the borough.
AGM photographs, administrative documents and further information are available on the 2025 AGM page, while the full awards narrative, citations and the updated spreadsheet of all awards since 1990—together with the interactive Awards Map—are posted on the 2025 Awards page.
Afsaneh Sladen of HCGA with new chairman, Angela Clarke MBE. Picture: Anne Farthing
The 2025 Awards themselves reflected what was described as a strong year for local design and environmental improvement. After a quieter set of nominations in 2024, the Environment Award returned with two standout winners: the New Timber Yard off King Street and MacFarlane Place on Wood Lane. Both projects were recognised for their design quality, environmental sensitivity and contribution to the evolving character of Hammersmith, with the committee noting their thoughtful use of materials and long-term sustainability.
In the smaller-project category, the Nancye Goulden Award went to the new rain gardens on King Street, delivered by the Hammersmith Community Gardens Association (HGCA) and part-funded by the council’s Green Investment Fund. The Society was particularly pleased to see natural materials replacing the long-criticised asphalt in the adjacent tree pits—an issue for which the council has received four Wooden Spoons in the past twelve years. The project was welcomed as a practical, attractive and environmentally beneficial improvement to the streetscape.
Two nominations were put forward for this year’s Wooden Spoon, the Society’s pointed but good-humoured award for poor design or planning decisions. The first concerned the generally dilapidated condition of Uxbridge Road, though the committee felt the issues were too broad to target a single responsible party. Members noted, however, that a lack of response to the emerging “Fix the Uxbridge Road” campaign could result in a Wooden Spoon for the council next year. The second nomination, the redevelopment of The Hampshire Hog into The Hammersmith Belle, proved a clear and popular “winner”, with concerns raised about the appropriateness of the redesign and its impact on local character. Further commentary and photographs are available on the 2025 Awards page.
The evening’s guest speaker, local sculptor Hywel Pratley, gave the audience a presentation on his past work, including the creation of a seven-foot bronze statue of Queen Elizabeth II. He offered an insight into the lost-wax casting process, supported by a short film. He then surprised and delighted members by proposing a life-size sculpture of William Morris, potentially sited along the Upper Mall. He shared several possible locations and revealed the maquette he has already developed to support the idea.
Guest Speaker Hywel Pratley with his sculpture. Picture: Anne Farthing
Outgoing chair Richard Farthing closed the formal proceedings with an overview of the Annual Report, highlighting major developments already underway or expected in Hammersmith over the coming years. A lQ&A session followed, with committee members addressing questions on planning, public realm improvements and the Society’s priorities for 2025.
The Society expressed its gratitude to Latymer Upper School for generously hosting the event.
A full list of the awards with details of the award winners is available here.
Value Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |