Detailed plans have been submitted by Capital and Counties (Capco) for redevelopment of the 31 storey Empress State office building in Earls Court into flats.
The building sits at the heart of an area adjacent to the Earls Court Exhibition Centre which is also owned by Capco and is being redeveloped under an £8Bn masterplan whose first phase was granted outline planning consent by the London Boroughs of Hammersmith and Fulham, and of Kensington and Chelsea in November last year.
The Masterplan development, designed by architect Sir Terry Farrell, will create some 12,000 jobs. It covers a 77 acre area and will include more than 10 million sq ft of residential led, mixed use space. Around 7,500 new homes are to be created by the Masterplan, including 1,500 affordable homes and replacements for council housing that will be demolished as part of the scheme.
The Empress State building redevelopment has been designed by architect Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates with Ove Arup as structural engineers. Mace is advising on construction logistics. The 450,000 sq ft structure is currently let to the Mayor of London’s policing and crime unit but this lease expires in 2019 and has been judged surplus to requirements in a recent Mayor’s office review.
The building, constructed in 1961, will be converted into 340 new flats, thought to be the biggest such conversion in London. The design includes recladding in distinctive anodised bronze cladding.
Photo: Phillip Perry
