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Waitrose wins £110m contract to reshape heart of Hammer-smith
Benedict Moore-Bridger, Evening Standard05.02.08
Waitrose has been given the green light for a huge £110million development which will transform the centre of Hammersmith.
The scheme, by a consortium led by the supermarket chain, will see 290 homes, shops, cafés and restaurants built in one of the area's main shopping streets.
Ugly and outdated council buildings around the town hall will be demolished to make way for the scheme, which will also see a new path to the Thames and a public piazza.
Waitrose and its development partners Grainger/Helical Bar beat rival Tesco with their plans, which will see the recreation of a public square in front of the grade II-listed town hall and a new superstore nearby.
The shopping area, currently cut off from the Thames by the A4, will be reconnected by a bridge linking King Street with the riverside, near Furnival Gardens, with a pedestrian street providing direct access from central Hammersmith to the footbridge and the river.
New council buildings and the range of new homes will be designed around the town hall. A car club will be available to residents in the square in an effort to curb pollution.
The UCG cinema in King Street, a Quaker meeting house, a block of flats and a home for the blind will also be demolished as part of the scheme.
Councillors today welcomed the designs, saying it would transform the area. Mark Loveday, Hammersmith and Fulham cabinet member for strategy leading the project, said the result was an obvious choice.
He said: "This is a vital project for Hammersmith and it must be of the highest quality. Too many of these schemes in the past looked tired before they were completed.
"I want future generations to be proud of the town hall and the proposals from Grainger/Helical Bar were clearly the outstanding choice."
David Walters, development director for Grainger, said: "We worked extremely hard to produce a scheme that met the needs of the brief and provided Hammersmith with a new heart and this part of King Street with a new lease of life."
The decision will come as a blow to rival Tesco which has spent years trying to break into the area.
The company's plans included the country's first Tesco department store, with food, clothes, electrical goods, sportswear and DVDs spread over two floors.
There was also to be a food hall offering "groceries from around the world" according to its developer.
The failure to win the contract comes four years after Tesco and its developer St James's Investments were forced to abandon plans to open a store following opposition from locals including actress Vanessa Redgrave.
Waitrose's plans will now go out to consultation before the developer submits a formal planning application later in the year. Building work is not expected to begin until 2010.
Reader views (2)
Isn't Vanessa Redgrave simply against everything?!
- Steve R, London, UK
Waitrose have the integrity needed for a large-scale proposal like this - and value is certainly added by opening up the path to the Thames. Even though the building looks like YET another glass monstrosity I hope it renovates the area as hoped.
- Squiz, Islington
