Stanhope and Mitsui Start "Phase 2" of Television Centre

Base of new 25 storey tower building at TV Centre

Developers Stanhope and Mitsui Fudosan have announced the start of Phase Two of the development of Television Centre.

Among the new buildings is a huge new 25 storey tower located just south of the Broadcaster pub on Wood Lane (see image left). 

Phase Two comprises a total of 511 homes in four separate plots. 

New Ugly Buildings for Hammersmith Park

TV Centre - 1 Wood Crescent. Ugly or Fugly?

For sheer ugliness it would be hard to beat the new buildings being built by Stanhope and Mitsui in Hammersmith Park, just east of the children's playground. 

Faced in grey concrete in the brutalist style, this ugly construction towers over its surroundings, even blocking out the view from many of the expensive new flats in TV Centre. 

The new development is called "TV Centre - 1 Wood Crescent", and is described at the official website as "a 9 storey building with 111,765 sq ft of prime office space". That's an ugly office block to you and me.

Thinnest House in Britain for Sale for Just Under £1m

skinniest house in Britain?

The "Thinnest House in Britain" is on the Goldhawk Rd, and is yours for just under £1m.

According to an article in the Daily Telegraph a few years back, the house is just 66 inches wide, and was last sold in 2009 for around £500,000.

Needless to say Faron Sutaria, the estate agents who sold it, said that its small size "adds to its charm".

The house on the Goldhawk Road apparently used to be a hatshop, and there is a nod to this ancestry in the form of the hat still hanging in what used to be the shop window.

Listed Buildings in Shepherd's Bush - Wood Lane Post Box

Listed building on Wood Lane

Think of Listed Buildings and you tend to think of Georgian mansions and stately homes. Here in Shepherd's Bush we have few of those, but we do have a few buildings worthy of preservation.

To find them, follow this link to the listed building website, which gives a handy little map of the architectural high points of our neighbourhood.

Some of them are slightly eccentric, including this Listed Post Box on Wood Lane, which most people probably walk past without giving it a second glance.

On further inspection, it is a very handsome post box.

And woe betide anyone who tries to tear it down. This post box is protected with the full force of the law.

Imperial College Campus Almost Complete

Imperial College Campus viewed from South of The Westway

The Imperial College Campus which has been slowly rising on Wood Lane, North of the Westway, is almost finished.

What is now clear is just how very undistinguished the architecture is. An opportunity to create a new and beautiful campus from scratch has been lost; what has been completed is an odd jumble of weird-looking buildings.

The site is dominated by the 34-storey ziggurat which towers over the Westway and was politely described by the Hammersmith Society as "controversial". "Very ugly" would be a better word for this weirdly asymmetrical building which now dominates views north from Shepherd's Bush and White City.

Hammersmith Society 2019 Environment Awards Open

2018 winner - Queen's Wharf Building

Nominations for the Hammersmith Society 2019 Environment Awards are now open.

If there is a new building in our neighbourhood that you like and admire - or even one you loathe - now is your chance to put it forward: for an Award - or a Wooden Spoon.

The 2019 Awards will be presented at the Society’s  AGM at Olympia on 12th June at 7.00pm at Olympia. The deadline for nominations is 15 May.

Hammersmith Society Awards 2018

Queen's Wharf building - award winner

The Hammersmith Society, guardians of good architecture in our neighbourhood, recently announced the 2018 winners of its annual awards.

There were two Main Awards given in 2018, for the Queen’s Wharf (see photo left) and Riverside Walk, Hammersmith, W6.

And, of course, there were wooden spoons for the new buildings which make our neighbourhood worse, not better.

Vanishing Hammersmith & Shepherd's Bush

Crane on Shepherd's Bush road

One remarkable feature of London life is the speed with which old buildings are demolished. You walk down a street and you see a big hole, and wonder - what used to be there?

This happened to me on Saturday, walking down Shepherd's Bush Road from Hammersmith, watching a huge crane (left) building another huge crane, on top of a huge new building site on the west side of the street.

What building had been there before, prior to demolition? Something beautiful? Something ugly? I could not remember.

Hammersmith Society 2018 Awards Now Open

Nominations for the Hammersmith Society 2018 Environment Awards are now open.

If there is a new building in our neighbourhood that you like and admire - or even one you hate - now is your chance to put it forward: for an Award - or a Wooden Spoon.

The 2018 Awards will be presented at the Society’s AGM on 5th July, 7.00pm at the Bush Theatre, Uxbridge Road, Shepherd’s Bush. The deadline for submissions is 16 May.

White City Ziggurat Towers 34 Stories Over Wood Lane

34 storey tower on Wood Lane

The new 34-storey tower rising at the top of Wood Lane is politely described by the Hammersmith Society as "controversial".

"Very ugly" might be a better word for this weirdly asymmetrical ziggurat which now dominates views north from Shepherd's Bush and White City.

It's yet another example in our neighbourhood of a missed opportunity to build something genuinely attractive. After all, Imperial College had a blank canvas when they started planning their new £200m White City Campus north of the Westway.

Instead of creating something beautiful, their architects have put up - for the most part - bland and characterless high rise buildings. The site is brand new and shiny but it already manages to look dated.

Hammersmith Society Awards

Last night the Hammersmith Society announced this year’s winners of its annual awards, presented by Cllr Michael Cartwright, Mayor of Hammersmith and Fulham. The ceremony was held at the Hammersmith Society AGM on Wednesday 21 June.

Every year the Hammersmith Society hands out awards for good architecture in our neighbourhood - and wooden spoons for bad projects which make our urban environment worse.

So, who were the winners (and losers) this year?

Former Unigate Dairy Site Plans To Go On Display

Imperial College Campus

Plans for the old Unigate Dairy site in White City will soon go on display.

Imperial College London, who own the land and plan to develop it, are holding a public consultation on their proposals for what will be the southern part of their new White City campus.

The university, which is building from scratch an entirely new campus in White City, says that feedback from the event will be considered before a planning application is submitted to our local Council (LBHF) later this year.

Hammersmith Society 2017 Environment Awards

Nominations for the Hammersmith Society 2017 Environment Awards are now open.

If there is a new building in our neighbourhood that you like and admire - or even one you hate - now is your chance to put it forward: for an award - or a wooden spoon.

The 2017 Awards will be presented at the Society’s AGM on Thursday 21 June, 7.00pm at the Dorsett Hotel, Shepherd’s Bush Green, W12.

Re-Imagining Shepherd's Bush Green

Imagine if Shepherd's Bush Green was a pedestrian area, rather than a giant traffic island. An impossible dream? Not according to architects Henning Stummel, who have made a proposal to pedestrianise the north side of the Common and re-route two-way traffic around the west and south. The proposal is supported by the Hammersmith Society and was included in their most recent newsletter.

"Skinniest House in Britain" on Goldhawk Road

skinniest house in Britain?

Despite a few notable buildings, Shepherd's Bush isn't really known for its fine architecture.

But we can at least boast the "skinniest house in Britain", a house just 66 inchs wide that was last sold in 2009 for something in the region of £500,000.

Needless to say Faron Sutaria, the estate agents who sold it, said that its small size "adds to its charm".

The house on the Goldhawk Road apparently used to be a hatshop, and there is a nod to this ancestry in the form of the hat still hanging in what used to be the shop window.

Awards from The Hammersmith Society

Last week we reported on The Hammersmith Society's "wooden spoon" awards, for new architecture in our neighbourhood which got it wrong, and missed an opportunity to enhance our streets.

But the Hammersmith society doesn't only blow rasberries. Their Environmental Awards are primarily designed to praise good architecture which enhances our public spaces and adds to the beauty of our neighbourhood. Right now, there is a lot of building going on, and this year four awards were handed out for excellent schemes which helped to make our Borough a better place to live.  

Wooden Spoons from The Hammersmith Society

Last night The Hammersmith Society, the organisation that campaigns for good architecture and good civic design in our neighbourhood, announced the winners of its annual "Wooden Spoon" Awards. 

A bit like the "Razzies" in Los Angeles (an award that no Hollywood film-maker wants to win) Wooden Spoons go to buildings which have made our neighbourhood worse, not better. Wooden Spoons are a way of "naming and shaming" the new build which misses a chance to improve our streets.  

This year the Hammersmith Society awarded three Wooden Spoon awards.

Public Exhibition of "Walkabout" Plans on Thursday 25th February from 4.00pm to 8.00pm

2016 - new Proposal

Dorsett Hospitality International are opening their doors once again for a second public consultation on their revised proposals for the old ‘Walkabout’ pub, formerly the Shepherd's Bush Cinematograph theatre.

The designs for the new building have been further revised, apparently in response to comments received from the public. So it looks as if Dorsett Regency are taking the process of consultation very seriously.

Anyone who would like to see the new plans should come along to the Dorsett Hotel on Thursday 25th February between 4.00pm and 8.00pm.

Lost Shepherd's Bush - The Great White City

The postcard above, printed around 1908, shows what Wood Lane used to look like. The postcard shows the entrance to "The Great White City", an exhibition space which hosted many extravagant exhibitions until the outbreak of war in 1914.  Today, Wood lane is an unappealing hodgepodge of Victorian terraces (mostly budget hotels), car parks (soon to be demolished), shopping centres (Westfield), bus stops, offices, and building sites.  It's not a street that invites pedestrians, though this may change as new development changes the landscape over the next few years.  Still, however things turn out, it's hard to imagine Wood Lane ever looking as good as it did over a hundred years ago.

Lost Shepherd's Bush - Classicism On The Uxbridge Road

Uxbridge Road c1978. Photo: Myles Hewitt

A reader recently contacted us for help to identify the classical-style building with columns on the left in this photo.

The picture came to light during a clear-out of old photos.  On the back of the photo he had written: "Uxbridge Road Winter 1978".

The building looks to be opposite the big BT Telephone Exchange on the south side of the street.