What's happening in Hammersmith & Fulham

Open House London showcases great design in every London borough. Click here to find out what you can see in Hammersmith & Fulham this year.

Below, you can find out all about the local context of this borough's architecture, areas undergoing change and projects under construction.

The driving force behind Hammersmith and Fulham’s regeneration programmes is the desire to attract investment from developers so that the council can build new, better homes and create jobs. It is also a wish that the types of social divisions and barriers caused by big estates will be broken down as the council strives to create housing for amore mixed and balanced community.

By protecting and improving open spaces, leisure and sport facilities as well as schools and health clinics the council is improving the quality of life for its residents. In relation to this objective the borough believes in maximising on its current strengths. Both the River Thames and the Grand Union Canal are important features and in these terms the council encourages development of vacant and underused land along the waterways while ensuring new developments provide opportunities for water-based activities where possible. 

By 2014 the council aims to have 50% of its population as homeowners and wishes to exceed housing building targets laid down in the London Plan. Affordable housing is a key priority for the borough, as with the fourth highest property prices in the UK only 44% of residents are homeowners. These aims will be met by at least 6,500 new homes being built by 2021, with 50% of these being affordable and providing a mix of property types and sizes with 10% wheelchair accessible.

A major initiative for regeneration is the Decent Neighbourhoods scheme. In the 21st Century it is a basic right for people to expect high quality and energy efficient homes. The council is starting to plan for what housing estates should look like for the future and are currently thinking of replacing existing housing on many estates. The White City Opportunity Area was set in 2004 and will create around 4,500 new homes aimed at people on low and middle incomes. Westfield has already bought many benefits to the area and the council is keen to ensure the trend continues. South Fulham Riverside is another area in the Decent Neighbourhood Programme. Hurlingham Wharf has not been used for 13 years and Swedish Wharf no longer uses the river for transport. The council wishes to open up the riverside to the public through a mix of residential and leisure developments.

 

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Hammersmith & Fulham architecture showcased in Open House London 2011

 

2010 Highlights

Year 6 pupils gave tours for visitors at Larmenier School where people said it was a complete contrast to their experience of school

A visitor said: “Hammermith riverside and the nearby
area deserves much more exploration. It is much more
architecturally diverse than I realised”

Another visitor said: “Open House was a chance to see
what is happening in other boroughs. I was particularly
interested in new homes and the use of sustainable materials and found what I saw very exciting. My visits this weekend have given me hope that as more contemporary exciting buildings are granted planning permission in some forward thinking councils, that it will spread to the ones that favour carbon copies from the past”

“I was very impressed with the way Apartment A Piper
Building had transformed an industrial space into
something exciting and residential”

A Hammersmith & Fulham resident said: “We live in
Hammersmith and made this the first area we explored on an Open House weekend several years ago. And there is still more to see!”

“Visually I have gained a new perspective on my neighbourhood and it made me feel more connected to the area”

 

 

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