Improved permeability, energy efficiency, public transport use and connectivity to north masterplan.
Westfield has submitted a further reserved matters application to the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham for its prestigious White City development in West London.
The application makes various improvements to the original design of the project. These arose from a detailed appraisal of the scheme which showed that the overall basic concept of the development is successful. Changes have been made to the winter garden, cinema, roof and elevations and these will;
- Improve the quality of the project, the legibility of the entrances and, crucially, its attractiveness to customers and occupiers;
- Improve energy efficiency, with a 20%-25% energy saving per annum on the current scheme;
- Maximise the opportunities to use public transport with improved connectivity to the public transport interchange in the southeast corner;
- Extend activity in the development into the evening by relocating the cinemas and introducing new restaurants, a bowling alley, gym and health spa;
- Ensure flexibility to allow for further improvements to connectivity to the north to be implemented in the future; and
- Allow more natural light and create a better internal environment by changing a series of fabric roofs to an organically shaped glass roof. The new roof will be instrumental in achieving the energy savings over the original design.
Lord Rogers undertook a strategic review of the project following changes to the design brief by Westfield which resulted in the involvement of Sir Richard MacCormac. Sir Richard has performed a valuable mentor role in relation to this application and also to the future evolution of the master plan and overview of future development. He acted in an advisory capacity which facilitated a number of amendments and improvements that will increase permeability through the development, strengthen connections to the underground at the south west corner, the bus station to the north west and Wood Lane at the south west. Ricky Burdett, the London Mayor's adviser on architecture, has also been facilitating a series of discussions involving Rem Koolhaas, Martha Schwartz and Sir Richard MacCormac to look at the master plan for the whole of the White City area. As a result of these discussions, the application improves the shopping centre’s relationship and connectivity to the north. These design improvements will further enhance the offer at White City and have a beneficial impact on the local retail offer. The transport improvements that are being made in conjunction with the development will enable 60% of customers to travel by public transport and will also improve accessibility to the surrounding area.