LONDON BOROUGH OF HOUNSLOW GOLDEN MILE VISion And ConCEPT MASTERPLAN REPORT PRESENTED BY URBAN INITIATIVES STUDIO LTD IN ASSOCIATION WITH (SUB CONSULTANT) STATUS FINAL ISSUE NO. 01 DATE ISSUED 16 APRIL 2014 FILE NAME 4050_20140416_GoldenMileReport_DS_Final.indd AUTHOR David Syme REVIEWED BY Hugo Nowell PROJECT DIRECTOR APPROVED BY DESIGN DIRECTOR This document has been prepared for the exclusive use of the commissioning party and unless otherwise agreed in writing by Urban Initiatives Studio Limited, no other party may copy, reproduce, distribute, make use of, or rely on its contents. No liability is accepted by Urban Initiatives Studio Limited for any use of this document, other than for the purposes for which it was originally prepared and provided. 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Registered in England No. 8236922 www.uistuido.co.uk CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................5 HOW TO USE THE DOCUMENT .................................................................. 5 01 OVERVIEW ..................................................................................................27 EXISTING CHARACTER AND TOWNSCAPE ............................................ 27 LOCATION ................................................................................................... 7 4050 HISTORY ..................................................................................................... 8 STRATEGIC CONTEXT ............................................................................... 9 ECONOMIC CONTEXT ...............................................................................11 Golden Mile HOUNSLOW CONTEXT .............................................................................13 Vision and Concept Masterplan WHY A VISION AND CONCEPT MASTERPLAN ........................................14 THE SPATIAL STRATEGY ..........................................................................17 The Team: AREAS OF TRANSFORMATION AND/OR CONSOLIDATION....................20 Urban Initiatives Studio Urban Movement 02 A PORTRAIT OF THE AREA ............................................................27 GVA EXISTING CHARACTER AND TOWNSCAPE ............................................ 27 MOVEMENT AND ACCESS ....................................................................... 34 Project Director: SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONTEXT ........................................................ 34 David Syme DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY ....................................................................... 36 SWOT ........................................................................................................ 42 Document type: Final Report 03 CONCEPT MASTERPLAN ........................................................................45 16 April 2014 URBAN STRUCTURE ............................................................................... 45 QUANTUM OF DEVELOPMENT.................................................................47 MOVEMENT AND ACCESS ....................................................................... 48 MIX OF USES ............................................................................................ 50 SCALE, HEIGHT AND MASSING .............................................................. 52 04 STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT ..............................................................55 STAKEHOLDER EVENT 1 ......................................................................... 55 APPENDICES .....................................................................................57 01 PROPERTY MARKET REVIEW ............................................................ 57 02 SCENARIO TESTING ............................................................................67 03 CONSULTATION NOTES .......................................................................69 GREAT WEST ROAD 4 INTRODUCTION The Golden Mile Vision and Concept Masterplan has been prepared as a non-statutory planning document for the London Borough of Hounslow. The document has no planning status but will be used as part of the evidence base as a visioning document supporting the Council’s emerging Local Plan. The key principles of this masterplan will be embedded in the Local Plan - the statutory planning document that will provide the vision and overarching direction to guide the future development of the whole borough. This document is visionary and deliberately aspirational. It has been prepared to explore several opportunities and at this stage does not seek to close down options which may be challenging. Brentford Lock The M4 raised above the Great West Road The areas of transformation/consolidation which have been identified within the An Area Action Plan (AAP) for the corridor Section 03 - Concept Masterplan: provides a document do not necessarily represent areas will be developed in due course where a more detailed overview of how the corridor will for comprehensive redevelopment. A range of programme of consultation and more thorough develop over that time including parameters on scenarios will be tested through further, more testing of proposals will be carried out. movement and access, land uses and building detailed, design work at the next stage. This heights. will explore the re-use of existing buildings, the How to use this document intensifying of development around existing Section 04 - Stakeholder Engagement: provides an summary of the stakeholder buildings and comprehensive redevelopment The masterplan document is divided into four engagement carried out to date. scenarios. sections: The spatial proposals and infrastructure Section 01 - Overview: This section provides projects presented here will require further and overview of the key issues to address detailed investigation to test their feasibility, when considering physical development of the deliverability and potential costs. It will also corridor and our proposed strategic responses; be essential to carry out consultation with provides a adjacent communities to get their views on the Section 02 - Portrait of the Area: detailed evaluation of the existing context both future of the corridor. physically and economically; and THE GOLDEN MILE VISION AND CONCEPT MASTERPLAN DRAFT REPOrt 5 4 22 5 12 7 2 3 6 11 9 23 1 8 10 21 6 01 OVERVIEW 15 Location 20 The Golden Mile is a stretch of the A4 / Great 18 West Road (GWR) that runs from the Chiswick roundabout in the east, 2.5 miles to Gillette Corner in the west, and forms an important, strategic corridor into central London from Heathrow Airport. The adjacent aerial image identifies important 19 buildings, places and streets within the Golden Mile corridor. 13 1. Former Gillette Factory 2. Grasshoppers Rugby Club 17 3. BSkyB Campus 4. Boston Manor Station 5. Boston Manor Park 24 6. GlaxoSmithKline 7. University of West London 8. Brentford Lock 9. Brentford Station 16 10. Brenford High Street 11. Brentford Football Club 12. Great West Quarter 13. Carville Hall Park 14. Kew Palace 15. Gunnersbury Park 16. Kew Bridge 17. Kew Bridge Station 18. Kensington Cemetery 14 19. Chiswick roundabout 20. Chiswick Park 21. Syon Lane Station 22. The M4 23. The Great West Road (A4) 24. Kew Bridge Steam Museum 7 History The Golden Mile is so named as a result of the concentration of prominent businesses it attracted following the construction of the GWR in 1925. Large companies with household names such Beechams, Gillette, Firestone and Lucozade took advantage of the strategic location and began locating their headquarters there, beginning an era of innovative, modern offices and factories and establishing a collection of iconic, art deco buildings along its length. Constructed as a bypass for the heavily congested London Road that runs through Hounslow and Brentford, the Golden Mile (A4) was extended to Kensington through Chiswick and Hammersmith between 1955 and 1957. Two years later work began on the elevated Historic aerial M4 that passes through Brentford and out of London towards South Wales. This, and the rapid expansion of Heathrow Airport, saw a new wave of large multi-national companies such as Glaxo-Smith Kline, Sky and Mercedes locate along the Golden Mile taking advantage of the national and international connections. Whilst there has been significant and continued investment along the Golden Mile, structural problems are apparent today, with severe traffic congestion and some empty and under used commercial premises. Recent development activity however including the construction of the Great West Quarter, refurbishment of Wallis House, the Alfa Laval Site and Kia showcase demonstrate the corridors continued attraction for global companies to invest, locate and develop. Gillette building 8 Strategic context WESTERN CoRRidoR The Golden Mile is a key component of the eastern M4/A4 Economic Corridor often described as England’s “Silicon Valley” due to the concentration of technology companies and which extend from Hammersmith through to Newbury, Reading and Swindon. The corridor is also home to a large number of financial service businesses