Two Hotels to Be Built on Site of Hammersmith Magistrates Court
Planning committee set to approve application despite over 100 objections
Two hotels, together offering over 800 bedrooms, are to be built on the site of the former Hammersmith Magistrates Court on Talgarth Road.
H&F Council's Planning Committee is set to approve a planning application on October 15 which will see the court demolished to replaced by two buildings ranging from six to 22 storeys in height. As well as hotel rooms, the new development will include restaurants, a rooftop bar and a new garden square.
The application however has attracted over 100 objections from local residents and organisations including the Hammersmith Society and Hammersmith and Fulham Historic Buildings Group.
The planning officers' report also adds that if permission is granted, the application will be referred to Mayor of London, whose office has so far supported the proposal in principle.
Work on the site, at 181 Talgarth Road on the eastern side of Hammersmith flyover, is expected to take over three years, with completion projected for 2023.
The application can be viewed in full here.
The report to the committee provides these details:
The application is for the re-development of the former Hammersmith
Magistrates Court site. The proposal involves the demolition of the existing building
and the erection of two hotel buildings, together with community space including
affordable workspace and event/rehearsal space, ancillary roof top plant; servicing;
cycle parking; creation of a new garden square; landscaping and enabling works.
The two hotel buildings would accommodate a total of 808 bedrooms. For the
purposes of the report, the two standalone hotels are identified as ‘Hotel 1’ (fronting
Talgarth Road) and ‘Hotel 2’ (to the rear/southern end of the site, facing the railway
lines).
In land use terms, the proposed development is defined as a Class C1 (Hotel)
use with ancillary Class B1(a) office space. The two hotels are design as standalone
operations, however with shared amenity, parking, servicing and delivery
arrangements (off Talgarth Road).
The proposed 808 bedrooms are divided into
Hotel 1 - 408 bedrooms and Hotel 2 – 400 bedrooms. The affordable workspace
(18th and 19th floors), meeting rooms (20th floor), a roof garden bar (21st floor), and
associated event/rehearsal space (basement level) are all provided in Hotel 1.
Landscaping works are described as follows:
The proposed development provides public realm within the site. This includes
landscaping improvements along Talgarth Road to enhance the route between
the site to Hammersmith station.
• A south facing Garden Square shared by hotel and restaurant guests and the
wider community.
• Retention of 21 of the 22 existing mature trees on the site, including 8 trees along
the northern boundary. One tree to be removed, located in the north-east corner
of the site. A further 46 new trees are proposed as part of the landscape strategy
to create a green buffer around the site.
• Green roofs on the roof of the lower and mid-rise blocks providing sedum,
wildflowers and grasses, forming a range of habitats and foraging opportunities
including bird and bat boxes.
• A 60m green wall would span most of the eastern elevation of the of the
northernmost building. The living wall system would be made from 100% organically grown planting and incorporate a fully automatic irrigation system of
drainage from the roof of Hotel 1 to allow the wall to have the correct amount of
water.
A Community Liaison Group is to be set up to keep local people informed about progress on the works.
The officers' report to the committee, which can be read in full here concludes: "It is recommended that the proposal be granted subject to the
conditions listed, the completion of s106 and no contrary direction from the Mayor of London."
The Magistrates Court was among over 150 across the country closed by the Ministry of Justice and it was then sold in 2017 for £43 million to the specialist developer Dominvs Group. The group says on its website that the hotel brands have still to be confirmed.
The Planning and Development Control Committee meeting is on Tuesday, 15 October at 7pm at 2 Shortlands. You can find the agenda and reports here .
October 11, 2019