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MAYOR OF LONDON ENDORSES ARCADIA CENTRE, EALING

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, following a stage II referral, has now given the go-ahead for the £500 million redevelopment of the town centre and the site of the current Arcadia Centre in the London Borough of Ealing. The town, a ‘metroplitan centre’, is one of only 10 in the capital and will be one of the areas of west London to benefit from the £16 billion Crossrail project.

Endorsing the scheme Mayor Johnson said: “Urban design and architecture of this quality will make a real difference to the residents of, businesses in, and visitors to Ealing.”

Last month HKR Architects, the international architecture and design practice, was given the ‘green light’ by planners at Ealing Council – on behalf of Glenkerrin UK. HKR has masterplanned this major piece of urban regeneration that will redefine and revitalise the town’s identity for the 21st century – it has designed and will deliver, six multi-storey buildings. Foster + Partners has designed, and will deliver, one building of 24 storeys.

In its report CABE recommended that HKR be retained for the duration of the project so that qualitative standards are maintained and delivered. David King-Smith, director and head of design at HKR commented: “ The regeneration of Ealing is long overdue and naturally we’re pleased at the outcome.”

The 1.7 hectare site is to be redeveloped to provide a high-density retail-led mixed-use scheme consisting of 200,000 sq ft of new retail space, 567 residential units – 18% of which will be affordable housing – as well as office and leisure facilities, maximising the efficient use of what is largely a ‘gap’ site.

The design of the scheme evolved considerably throughout the processing of the planning application, during which the largest public consultation ever conducted in the history of the borough took place, when over 60,000 letters were sent to local residents. Given Ealing’s established leafy suburban character there was a huge response to the scheme, in particular the tallest tower – then named ‘The Leaf’ – which has been renamed and drastically reduced to a tall building, more appropriate to the location. The revised and approved tall building fronts a new public square at ground level, designed to act as a new arrival space for users of Ealing Broadway’s existing and proposed Crossrail station, due to open in 2017. A new network of street and public spaces will extend Ealing’s existing street fabric and unite the town with the public park at Haven Green to the north of the site, with a land bridge over the Great Western mainline.

The existing site will be demolished with the exception of two buildings, one Victorian and currently occupied by Carphone Warehouse, and the adjacent modern retail and office space, occupied by Sainsbury’s.

Email: Vanessa@bondandassociates.co.uk