Proposals have been submitted by applicant Chiswick Tower Limited, a subsidiary of the Co-Living Group. The applicant seeks full planning permission at 389 Chiswick High Road, which is located within the boundary of the London Borough of Hounslow (LBH), which will be determining the application.
The application in essence seeks permission for the “Alterations to and change of use of Chiswick Tower to provide large-scale purpose-built shared living accommodation and commercial floorspace, demolition of the existing two-storey annex to provide self-contained residential dwellings within a new nine-storey (plus basement) building. This would be alongside the associated public realm and improvements to the Gunnersbury Station entrance.
The proposed development is not referable to the Greater London Authority (GLA). The proposed co-living floorspace is provided within an existing building and therefore does not meet the threshold of 20,000 sqm of new
floorspace. Within the annex building, 23 residential units are provided, which is below the 150-unit threshold. In addition, the annex building is below Further, the proposed new annex building is below the 30m threshold for new buildings outside the City of London at 29.8 metres, as demonstrated on the submitted plans.
The site comprises Chiswick Tower, a prominent office building extending to 19 storeys (plus basement) with a two-storey annex building that was constructed in 1966, designed by Raymond Spratley & Partners. The multi-storey car parks on either side of the station were built as part of the development to provide parking for the office
development. The building was refurbished and re-clad in 1995, which is the building that can be seen today.
The space is only partly occupied by BSI, the British Standards Institution, which is the national standards body of the United Kingdom. They currently occupy the space from the ground to the 8th floor; however, they are due to leave the building in November 2025, and as a result, will leave the building vacant.
The principal pedestrian access to Gunnersbury Station is through the ground floor of the Tower. The Site also includes part of the two-storey car park structure abutting the railway line, to the west of Gunnersbury Station. The main vehicular access to the Site is from Chiswick High Road.
The surrounding area is characterised by a mix of residential and commercial units. It is located in a highly accessible location for public transport (PTAL 5) and also has convenient access to the A4/M4, A406 north circular, and A205 south circular.
A total of 394 Co-Living units are proposed, with each unit fully furnished with a double-sized bed and containing an en-suite shower room / WC, work area, and a kitchenette. The average unit size will range from 18 sqm to 30 sqm for a standard room, with 13% of all units fitted out to be wheelchair accessible/adaptable. Due to working with the constraints of the existing building, there are a variety of room types that residents can choose from.
The 23 affordable units are provided within a new annex building and comprise the affordable offer associated with the Proposed Development. The units equate to an affordable housing offer of 16.7% based on habitable rooms. The tenure comprises 100% dwellings for social rent.
The proposals retain Chiswick Tower in its existing built form, without any increase in height. The existing two-storey annex is demolished and replaced with a 9-storey annex within the same footprint. The annex height has been designed to respond to the existing context and townscape, with a gradual step down from Chiswick Tower.
The 10-year target for Hounslow is 17,820, equating to an annual requirement for 1,782 new homes per year. However, all boroughs are encouraged to maximise opportunities for housing delivery, given that the London Plan targets fall some way short of the identified need. Plans would provide 23 self-contained residential units and 394 Co-living units, which equate to 219 residential units.
Proposals are only part of the wider site allocation, whilst it is suggested that the adjacent east and west car parks could provide an additional 37 residential units. initial phases of the application evolution proposed to replace the top deck of the east and west car parks with townhouse-style self-contained residential dwellings, with corresponding new access routes to Wellesley Road.
These were removed from the scope of the application during the pre-application / public consultation phase. However, this is mentioned within the application documents as a future aspiration as part of an overarching masterplan.
A publicly accessible play area is proposed above the western car park, within the new linear park above the existing car structure. Due to the loading limitations of the existing structure, lightweight play interventions are planned, as illustrated on the following page. This play space is primarily designed for children aged 5 and above.
The proposed site-wide strategy facilitates the opportunity for TfL and Network Rail to comprehensively redevelop Gunnersbury station to improve capacity and introduce step-free access. Consultation with TfL and NR has confirmed that maximum flexibility across the site is required to not inhibit the station design and construction in the future.
To facilitate the envisaged station improvements, the land owner is willing to relinquish their right of access across the existing road bridge to the south of Gunnersbury station. This opens up the opportunity for the station to be extended to the south, to provide step-free access to the wider sections of the platform. Following earlier feasibility work, it is clear that a lift can only be facilitated further down the platform as shown, hence the requirement for Network Rail and TfL to utilise the road bridge.
Possible options for station improvement have been illustrated here and include: extending the station over the existing road bridge, as shown in the previous feasibility study carried out by Grimshaw in 2018. This provides additional stairs and a lift to the platform and additional secondary access to the platform from Wellesley Road, even if only for egress, which TfL noted should be considered in any redevelopment
The applicant has appointed Assael Architecture to produce design and access proposals for the application site.
