Delayed Olympia Project Poised to Open Late Next Year
Landmark venue back on track says developer
Construction work at Olympia is expected to finish in summer 2025
October 4, 2024
The redevelopment of the Olympia Exhibition Centre is, in a word, grand. A new 4,400-person music arena, a theatre, hotels, bars and restaurants; the scheme’s official website describes it as a ‘cultural landmark’, and while not all may agree with that moniker, it is not without foundation.
Approved by Hammersmith and Fulham Council in 2019, the project has had its difficulties, among them delays due to the pandemic. Earlier this year, the local authority, however, approved a slew of provisional licences for the Olympia, including for the arena and bar areas, in a major step forward for the project as a whole.
When the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) visited the site a few months ago, it was busy with construction workers, and the shell of the eventual complex was becoming increasingly defined.
Lloyd Lee, Managing Partner at Yoo Capital, one of the owners of the site, has since said good progress is being made, with the main construction for most of the redevelopment to be completed in mid-2025. But where does the scheme currently stand, and what exactly is it expected to deliver?
Located in West Kensington, between Hammersmith and Earl’s Court, the Olympia Exhibition Centre was a key London venue for 130 years. Primarily associated with events such as Crufts and the Ideal Home Show, it also hosted musicians including Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd.
The site was purchased by investment firms Yoo Capital, which is also behind the Shepherd’s Bush Market scheme, and Deutsche Finance International in 2017 for £296 million, with the redevelopment plans approved two years later. Under the £1.3 billion project, the space is to be reimagined as a hub delivering a range of cultural and hospitality experiences. These will include large-scale gigs and theatre performances at the 4,400-capacity Olympia Music arena and 1,575 seat Olympia Theatre.
Wetherby Arts School in partnership with The BRIT School will launch there in 2025. The revamp features over 30 different places to eat ‘from artisan food markets to fine dining and everything in between’ according to the developers. The D3 Collective, described as ‘London’s next restaurant empire’ will launch a restaurant, bar, ‘speakeasy’ and events space in 2025 at Pillar Hall in the Olympia development.
Visualisation of Olympia London's planned £1.3billion redevelopment
An Art Park and the Olympia Roof Garden will provide attractive public areas, while The Olympia will also deliver 550,000 square feet of workspace, with facilities reportedly ranging from recording studios to podcast rooms, as well as offices.
Concerns were raised at the licensing meetings about particulars of the project, such as the late-night opening hours of the hotels and antisocial behaviour, as well as potential impacts on local traffic. The applications were nonetheless approved, with a spokesperson for Olympia telling the LDRS after one meeting an ‘exciting new chapter’ had begun for the site.
According to Mr Lee, the majority of the new spaces will begin to open in the latter half of 2025. “While this is a few months later than we had anticipated in 2019/2020 we could not anticipate global events such as Covid, economic fluctuations and the geopolitical uncertainty of the last few years,” he said. “We are pleased to have made such strong progress with our contractor Laing O’Rourke against this backdrop.”
While work continues on the redevelopment, a recent proposed change to the scheme has been submitted with Hammersmith and Fulham Council. This includes the installation of additional retail pavilions, and a series of public realm improvements on Olympia Way, to the south of the Kensington (Olympia) station entrance.
Mr Lee told the LDRS the proposals have been reconsidered to ‘enhance the visitor experience to Olympia’, with the plans to the north unchanged. The council’s planning portal lists an internal target date to issue a decision of 11 November.
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