What's happening in the City of Westminster

Open House London showcases great design in every London borough. Click here to find out what you can see in Westminster 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 City of Westminster is a borough committed to enhancing urban design and buildings in the public realm and thus improving the quality of life for everybody. Westminster is focused to working with partners to celebrate innovative and high quality design. Many new developments in Westminster have won design awards and part of Westminster’s One City Programme includes an initiative to promote excellence of new design.

There are currently a few public realm schemes underway and the City Council has just published the draft planning brief for the Victoria Area, London SW1. The draft outlines the importance of the regeneration of the transport interchange. By giving this area the highest priority the Victoria area will become a place and not just a space to pass through. There are proposals for the Victoria Rail Station, Victoria Street, Victoria Underground Station, Terminus place, Broad Sanctuary and surrounds, Broadway and Victoria Coach Station. The vision for Victoria Street is very site specific and a huge amount of thought and consideration will go into its regeneration. The council would like to see a greater introduction of active uses at ground level, particularly retail. Through this there will be a more pedestrian focused environment. In terms of landscaping the council wish to encourage a varied approach to façade design, avoiding predominantly glazed facades and a monotonous landscape. Instead buildings that use a mix of materials, light, texture, colour and confer to human scale will be used.

Elsewhere the areas of Paddington and the West End are also undergoing transformation. The Paddington Special Policy Area (PSPA) is centred on Paddington Station and the Grand Union Canal Basin. Within the area, which is the largest development area in Westminster, there are various major projects and transport projects underway with briefs prepared for Paddington Station, Paddington Goods Yard (now Paddington Central) and St Mary’s Hospital. Improvements and maintenance works in the West End will encompass Berwick Street, Chinatown, Covent Garden, Edgware Road, and Leicester Square amongst others.

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