Riverside Studios to be Redeveloped

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New development will extend across Queens Wharf

A club of investors called Arab Investments has teamed up with A2Dominion to propose a £190m development which would see the studios and arts centre extended across the two buildings to double the studios' space and also accommodate a block of upmarket apartments, new bars and a restaurant.

It is also hoped the £190 million plans would open up that stretch of the river and extend the riverwalk to Hammersmith Bridge.

Arab Investments, owned mainly by Saudi and Kuwaiti investors are also behind a plan to build the 64 storey building The Pinnacle, one of the tallest buildings in the City of London which has been nicknamed the Helter Skelter because of its corkscrew design.

" We lost £500,000 of Arts Council funding in March, so this is a really important investment that will make us much more self sufficient," says William Burdett-Coutts, artistic director of the Riverside Studios.

He adds that the redevelopment of the site, which started life as a water-pump factory, would create a "great resource for the local community".

The proposals have also met with approval by A2Dominion, who are in discussions with Hammersmith and Fulham Council alongside Arab Investments. A2Dominion's own plan for an eight storey redevelopment of Queens Wharf offering 91 flats was turned down by the council in August.

An A2Dominion spokesperson says: " A2Dominion is close to reaching an agreement with Arab Investments Ltd and the Riverside Trust charity for a joint scheme to create a mixed-used development in Hammersmith.

" The project would involve the redevelopment of the Riverside Studios and the adjacent Queens Wharf sites to create new residential units, studio facilities and a bar and restaurant on the ground floor."

November 8, 2011