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Earls Court

Affordable homes and community facilities in west London

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Client: The Earls Court Development Company
Status: In Progress
Location: Earls Court
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Type/Sector: Commercial, Cultural, Housing, Leisure, Mixed-use
Tagged: Collaboration

Collaborators

Collaborating Architects Sheppard Robson and Serie Architects
Landscape Architect LDA Design
Structural and Civil Engineering Walsh
Sustainability Consultant and MEP Engineer Hoare Lea
Project Management Cast
Principal Designer Gardiner & Theobald
Facade Engineers Eckersley O’Callaghan

Collaborators

Collaborating Architects Sheppard Robson and Serie Architects
Landscape Architect LDA Design
Structural and Civil Engineering Walsh
Sustainability Consultant and MEP Engineer Hoare Lea
Project Management Cast
Principal Designer Gardiner & Theobald
Facade Engineers Eckersley O’Callaghan
01 Transformation of a 44-acre site

A new neighbourhood set within 20 acres of new public open and green space.

The Earls Court Development Company (ECDC) has now submitted a hybrid planning application for the 44-acre site, the former home of the Earls Court Exhibition Centres, which straddles two London boroughs – the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, and the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham. As custodians of the site, ECDC, have spent four years engaging with stakeholders, investing in community initiatives and facilities, creating local jobs and opportunities whilst steering the evolution of the masterplan, led by Hawkins Brown and Studio Egret West.  The site is to be transformed into a new neighbourhood with c.4,000 new homes, over 2.9 million sq ft of workspace, three anchor cultural venues, bars, restaurants and community facilities set within 20 acres of new public open and green space.

dRMM is working with Serie Architects and Sheppard Robson on a plot led by the latter. We have formed a close working relationship, working collaboratively as a single design team and our range of buildings have evolved in unison. At all client, stakeholder and planning engagements we have presented the ensemble as a singular vision. This process has strengthened the design response and fully integrated the five buildings into a collective whole.

It has been a wonderful, rare experience to be fully collaborative and to work as a seamless design team. ECDC has given us the opportunity and freedom to explore, test and develop the best possible outcome for this critical first phase.
Philip Marsh, Director
Aerial of the site
02 Part of the first phase of work located in Hammersmith & Fulham

A family-oriented development, with areas for active play.

We’re designing a permanent home for an existing temporary Community Hub, with a café and flexible commercial space, as well as two residential buildings: a 16-storey building and a nine-storey mansion block. Both are classed as affordable housing and intended for social rent and shared ownership respectively. A residents’ courtyard sits between the two buildings and a mews street, upgraded sports pitch and community grow garden complete our plot.

Community cohesion is highly valued by ECDC, with dRMM’s affordable homes occupying a wonderful location fronting the open space of Aisgill Gardens. The mixed tenure housing will enjoy park side aspects and open views towards the West.

 

Aisgill playtime garden
03 Design inspiration

The Art Deco nature of the original Earls Court Exhibition Centre is reflected in clean lines and geometric detailing, in the spirit of west London Mansion Blocks

Colour is brought to the site, referencing the Hoover Building’s striking horizontal green glazed facade that wraps the ground floor. The 16-storey element references Art Deco tower typologies with a strong vertical emphasis, whereas the nine-storey building acknowledges the midrise 1930s mansion blocks with its horizontal articulation. Every home is dual aspect, with none as north-facing, promising an optimisation of daylight, sunlight, outlook and the opportunity for cross ventilation.

Building heights mediate between the neighbouring low-rise context and Sheppard Robson’s landmark tower. This is achieved through stepped massing and the use of graduated, coloured brickwork. The darker base relates to the contextual brickwork of the West Kensington Estate, which gives way to ever lighter and brighter brick tones further up the buildings that reference the ivory-coloured facade of the adjacent 42-storey tower. In this way the buildings respond to their context in both form and appearance.

Courtyard between the community cafe and standalone community hall
04 Community features

Facilities will support both new and existing residents, helping to stitch the neighbourhoods together.

Grow gardens are intended to build on the success of the existing horticultural groups which have been established through the Community Hub. The new hub, within the nine-storey block, will house a horticultural kitchen working in conjunction with the grow gardens and café, promoting education around healthy eating and sustainably sourced local produce. Creative rooms and a flexible space will complete the centre. Sitting across the yard, a standalone community hall will support a diverse range of uses from yoga, to scouts to private hire for parties and weddings in a single volume all-timber hall.

Earls Court has an ambition for a net zero-carbon energy network with net zero operational carbon targets. Buildings are efficient with excellent form factors, orientated to benefit from solar gain and shaded with external roller screens to mitigate overheating and allow residents to passively cool their homes.

The Hybrid planning application was submitted in September 2024 with a decision expected in Summer 2025. Alongside the Outline Planning Application, detailed designs have been submitted for the first buildings in Phase 1 of the development, which are set to commence construction in 2026.

This has been such a great opportunity to design two buildings which face onto the new east-west route in Hammersmith & Fulham. Located between some of the tallest and lowest buildings on the site, and neighbouring the proposed Aisgill Gardens, navigating this complex connection has been a privilege.
Victoria Hale
Senior Associate
The cascade, with a dRMM block on the right

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