A weekly round up of the latest planning and property news from the central London boroughs

Hammersmith & Fulham

Construction Enquirer reports that Laing O’Rourke is expected to be confirmed imminently as main contractor for the £1.3bn redevelopment of London’s Olympia Exhibition Centre. Work will include revamping the existing exhibition halls and adding 51,000m² of office, studio and co-working space across its site. The revamp is expected to create more than 3,000 new construction jobs over the next five years.

Architects Journal reports that AHMM has revealed designs for a mixed-use scheme comprising a block of affordable housing for a women-only housing association next to a co-living tower. The plans include two linked buildings on Wood Lane in White City, a 29-storey tower with 350 co-living apartments, and an eight-storey block with 80 affordable homes and a new head office for Women’s Pioneer Housing (WPH).

Southwark

London News Online reports that a housing campaigner has won permission to take his bid to block a £1billion development to the Court of Appeal. Jerry Flynn of Up The Elephant is trying to reverse the decision to allow Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre to be demolished and 1,000 flats to be built on the site – granted by Southwark council in 2018 to shopping centre owner and developer Delancey. Key demands issues include the provision o more social and affordable housing in the new complex and that the current shopping centre traders are not turfed out.

Construction Enquirer reports that Multiplex and Chinese facade contractor Yuanda are locked in a payment dispute over delays on the landmark One Blackfriars tower project.
Because of late delivery, Multiplex has agreed to pay liquidated and ascertained damages capped in its contract at £7.5m to St George. Last November, Multiplex demanded £7.5m by way of LADs from Yuanda (UK) over the project delay. Yuanda has denied that it was responsible for the delays and has also submitted a claim for its final account to Multiplex. The dispute has gone to adjudication with a result expected later this month.

Westminster

Property Week reports that Frederick Barclay has threatened to sue members of his family if The Ritz hotel is sold for less than £1bn. Frederick said he had received bids of more than £1bn for the hotel and warned that a sale below that price would trigger further litigation. The billionaire brothers, Sir Frederick and Sir David, are in the process of the selling the Mayfair hotel with JLL acting on their behalf.

Architects Journal reports that Child Graddon Lewis’s mixed-use Paddington block includes the UK’s tallest school. The Dudley House scheme includes 197 affordable homes, a permanent home for Marylebone Boys’ Secondary School, a church and retail unit. Sited on a 4,000m² footprint, Dudley House is Westminster’s largest-ever design-and-build contract scheme and intended as a flagship project in the borough’s inclusive ‘City for All’ programme – creating affordable homes and community infrastructure within a highly constrained and commercial urban location.

Architects Journal reports that Lynch Architects has submitted plans for a timber and stone extension to Westminster Coroner’s Court. A new garden of remembrance designed by the practice was built to the left side of the court in summer 2018 and now Westminster City Council has formally received plans for the second phase of the development, which will see an extension with more office space and improved facilities for visitors built to the other side of the courthouse. Builders are expected to start on site in autumn, for completion in 2022.

General 

Architects Journal reports that Historic England is seeking views on its new guidance for how architects and developers can avoid ‘ill-considered’ proposals when designing tall buildings. The advice note, out for public consultation, replaces the government watchdog’s 2015 guidance on high-rises and reflects the impact an ‘increased number’ of completed tall buildings is having on the historic environment. The document calls for a ’plan-led approach’ and argues that, while tall buildings can make a positive contribution to city life, they can also ‘seriously harm’ the historic character of places.