Tuesday 14 April 2020

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.

View from Wood Lane looking North
Missed Opportunity
It's yet another example in our neighbourhood of a missed opportunity to build something genuinely attractive. 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 bland and characterless high rise buildings. The site is brand new and shiny but it already manages to look dated.

"Iconic Landmark"
View from Wormwood Scrubs
According to contractors voreda.com "The Tower will deliver an iconic [how overused is the word "iconic" ?] landmark for Imperial College London White City Campus, demonstrating the presence of a world-leading institution. A third of the apartments are designated for College Key Workers and Imperial NHS staff. The concept of College Key Worker accommodation was an innovative introduction by Voreda, benefiting Imperial College London as a long term employer whilst providing a real solution to UK affordable housing."

Jobs and Investment
View from Wood Lane
No doubt Imperial College will bring plenty of new jobs and investment to the area - all of which is to be welcomed. It's just a shame they couldn't have made the place look attractive along the way. It surely couldn't have been that hard.

The Shepherd's Bush Blog offers a personal view on life in Shepherd's Bush.  If you would like to contribute a story about our neighbourhood, email us at shepherdsbushblog@gmail.com.


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3 comments:

  1. The Flower Child15 April 2020 at 06:08

    Couldn't agree more - there isn't even a consistent colour scheme or use of materials

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    1. The Bush Telegraph15 April 2020 at 11:24

      It feels like the old joke about the definition of a camel being a horse designed by a committee. It's hard to overstate how awful the buildings look. It's almost as if the architects were having a laugh - pulling their clients' leg. "Do you think they'll go for this? No...not in a million years!"

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  2. SD15 April 2020 at 17:18

    No it's not nearly complete? There is an entire development south of the Westway yet to be begun. Nevertheless, what has been built so far is ugly and undistinguished to say the least.

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