Upgrade Will 'Breathe New Life into Market Environment'
Hammersmith Society praises Yoo Capital's Shepherd’s Bush scheme
New commercial build by Shepherd's Bush market viewed from Goldhawk Road. Picutre: Yoo Capital
The Hammersmith Society has given qualified support to plans by property company Yoo Capital to redevelop and upgrade Shepherd’s Bush Market and surroundings.
The company, which is also undertaking the expansion of Olympia in Hammersmith, bought the market in 2020 and since then has held a series of public consultations, showing off its plans for the area.
These include the redevelopment of the Old Laundry site, the triangular area behind the east side of the market, and the upgrade and renewal of the market facilities.
Two buildings are proposed for the Old Laundry site: a mixed-use commercial building, of six upper floors, ground floor and mezzanine, and a full basement floor below, together providing for office space and Imperial College research facilities. A smaller building, located on the north end of the site, will provide 40 affordable flats on the ground floor and five floors above.
Members of the society have visited the consultations and the society subsequent report supports the scheme, drawn up by architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, though expressing some reservations.
The market with commercial building from Goldhawk Road entrance. Picture: Yoo Capital
The society says: “ This is a dense, complex scheme, inserting a substantial building bulk in a site landlocked behind the two-storey shop terraces of Goldhawk Road, and two and three-storey residential terraces of Pennard Road. For reference, the main commercial building is the same height as the Dorsett Hotel.
“ Looking North, this building would be visible from Goldhawk Road, rising above the shop terraces, and the substantial stepped, craggy elevation would not be out of place in the busy mix of style and scale, and could enrich the visual jazz of the area.
“From the west the building would be seen chiefly from the passing trains, and would form a new, east side to the market thoroughfare, with stalls partly tucked into the ground floor area. This would create an enclosure which could bring a sense of urban intimacy to the market thoroughfare, akin to the feel of Borough market.
“ On the east side, the building would be a dominant presence for the adjacent terrace of houses on Pennard Road, close to the rear gardens and crowding the outlook from rear windows. The design of the new building acknowledges this problem, and brings some mitigation with progressive stepping back at upper levels, and a landscaped area alongside the Pennard Road boundary: rules for this arrangement are set out in the Local Plan SPD (Section HS6), and the developer advises that the proposals comply with the dimensional restraints required.
“Resolution of this possible discord is fundamental to the development concept.”
The building from Old Laundry Yard. Picture: Yoo Capital
The report has a more positive view of the “simpler, more restrained design” of the residential building, which will provide one, two and three bedroom flats, available at either affordable or social rents.
It says of the building: “ It’s finished externally in patterned brick, and neatly planned to optimise the tapering site, wrapping around a planted courtyard deck, with the market stalls tucked in below. Balconies project from stepped bays, and front doors are accessed from a continuous balcony at each level on the market side.
“ The stepped bays and balconies help to relieve the visual bulk of the commercial building, and the balcony planting could transform the appearance while also contributing to biodiversity. A choice of external finishes for the commercial block has been offered during the consultation process, and we understand a plain light colour render or similar is favoured over the alternative brick tones offered.”
However it adds: “ The cantilever building projection overhanging the market stalls creates an uncomfortable condition, divorcing the building from a ground connection which would provide visual resolution.”
The building seen from Lime Grove and Pennard Road. Picture: Yoo Capital
On Goldhawk Road, one of the shops is now owned by Yoo, and would be demolished to make way for a reception and pedestrian entrance for both the office and residential buildings, opening at the rear into a -landscaped pedestrian and vehicle open space wrapping around the east side of the buildings. Vehicle access will reuse the existing route via Pennard Road with time-based access restrictions planned.
The society’s report points out that the side-access off Goldhawk Road, along the end of the shops, is currently unregistered land which presents a range of unresolved issues.
Turning to Shepherd’s Bush Market itself, the society says: “ The developer has been working with the stallholders to rejuvenate the market area, tidying up the overall layout, installing weather protection on the railway side using a continuous projecting canopy, and on the east side tucking the stalls under the deck of the new buildings.
“ New gateways at the Goldhawk Road and Uxbridge Road Market entrances, new ground paving, and new lighting together should create a more contemporary retail facility whilst maintaining the Market character.
“ The Market is a very special feature of Shepherd's Bush, and the current scheme would breathe new life to the market environment, supporting and improving the stallholders' accommodation and providing new affordable flats.”
The residential building. Picture: Yoo Capital
The society however adds one reservation: “The design of the commercial development provides for the viability of the project, but requires the adjacency to Pennard Road to be shown to be acceptable.”
A planning application is expected to be submitted to Hammersmith and Fulham Council in the near future.
Yoo Capital says its proposals seek to reimagine the Market as though it had continual investment for the last 20 years and include new entrances, a new canopy and road surfaces as well as new stalls and grants for investment into shops and units in railway arches.
Lloyd Lee, Managing Partner, Yoo Capital, says: “Shepherd’s Bush Market has a unique vibrancy and culture. As a firm, we believe in celebrating community assets across London. We made a commitment to Shepherd’s Bush Market’s traders to invest in the Market in a way that honours and retains its much-loved sense of community and diversity.”
You can see full details of the plans here.
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April 24, 2023