New Wood Lane Tower Proposed

Proposed 227 Wood Lane

A new 25 storey tower (see photo, left hand side) is to be built on Wood Lane, near the A40, just West of the ziggurrat tower recently built on the Imperial College London campus in White City.

Architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris have designed a new 29-storey tower block to the north of the A40 at 227 Wood Lane (see photo, left hand side).

The proposed tower would replace Browning House, which is a four-storey social housing block owned by Women’s Pioneer Housing (WPH), a housing association providing specialist accommodation.

The Hammersmith Society, guardians of good architecture in our neighbourhood, is against it, but the area has arguably been ruined anyway.

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.

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.

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.

What's Going On At Imperial College White City?

Imperial College White City - as proposed at their website

Drive up Wood Lane past the A40 and you can hardly miss the massive new towers thrusting upwards, part of the new Imperial College White City Campus.  Imperial College is expanding its empire, and White City is a big part of the vision.  The style is unabashedly modernist, with concrete, steel and glass being the chief ingredients.  It's all part of the White City Opportunity Area, a redevelopment project set in motion a few years ago by our Council, The Mayor of London, and central government.  Imperial College's goal is to create "create a culture of research and innovation, electric with ideas".