If approved, the Hastings Road student accommodation development will be delivered using offsite, 3D volumetric modular methods, following the demolition of a Majestic Wine outlet.
It is one of two towers currently proposed for the area close to West Ealing station, with the John Lewis Partnership submitting plans for a contentious 19-storey Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands-designed housing development above a new Waitrose a short walk away.
The John Lewis scheme, consisting of four blocks, is proposed for the site of a 2005-built existing Waitrose store.
JTP said in its planning application that its proposed building is made up of three parts that ‘respond to the existing and emerging surrounding context’, stepping up from Hastings Road towards the railway. It added that a strong base provides ‘active frontage’ to street level.
The scheme, for developer and contractor Tide Construction, would provide 448 student flats. Some 150m² of commercial space is planned at ground level, with the building line set back further back from the road than the existing building on site.
The proposed façade will consist of a rainscreen/brick slip system.
Local campaign group Stop the Towers has said both developments are too tall for the area and will deprive local homes of daylight and privacy.
Both the John Lewis and JTP planning applications cite the other scheme as an example of similar-sized potential buildings nearby.
JTP said it slightly reduced the size of the shoulder elements of its design in response to feedback at a public consultation that the building was too tall while noting that a ‘cluster of tall buildings’ was emerging in the area.
Stop the Towers co-chair Justine Sullivan said: ‘Tide’s plans come hot on the heels of John Lewis’s application to build several massive tower blocks on its nearby Waitrose West Ealing site, which will likewise put excessive strain on local infrastructure and amenities and totally transform the character of the area.
‘The local community in West Ealing supports proportionate developments that will genuinely benefit local families and enhance the neighbourhood. [But] neither Tide nor John Lewis care about this though and are only interested in maximising profits irrespective of the adverse impact on those living in the shadows of their towers.’
In March, Ealing Council leader Peter Mason slammed the John Lewis proposals for being too tall and not including enough affordable housing.
He said the council’s local plan sets out guidance that buildings in the area should be between 7 and 13 storeys and include at least 35 per cent affordable housing.
He added: ‘How they choose to use all of this advice and guidance is up to them. But at the moment it feels like a big institution is trying to twist arms and bully through a scheme that could be far better, through a precarious planning process using the ever-present threat of an appeal.’
Plans for the John Lewis development were submitted last month, with only a change of colour to the brick treatment on the front, middle and rear of the taller buildings, changed from the proposals consulted on earlier this year. The company says it is committed to providing at least 20 per cent affordable homes with an aim of 35 per cent subject to funding availability.
Earlier this month an Ealing Council spokesperson told the AJ it was ‘very disappointing that the plans for the Waitrose currently offer just 20 per cent affordable homes’.
They added: ‘A huge amount of work has gone into providing clear guidance on a range of sites that we believe will be developed over the next decade as part of our local plan.’
‘The developers have already been given clear feedback, and the viability of the scheme will be further tested as part of the planning application process.’
A John Lewis Partnership spokesperson said: ‘Our ambition is to deliver 35 per cent affordable housing to ensure good availability of quality, rental homes for local people, including nurses, teachers and other key workers. This is an ongoing process and we are working closely with a range of local stakeholders to meet the needs of the local community.’
The Ealing Council spokesperson did not answer questions about the council’s views on the similarly-sized JTP proposal.
In a design and access statement with the planning application, referring to the proposed height of the scheme, JTP said: ‘While the London Borough of Ealing is preparing a new local plan, a draft has not yet been published so cannot be given any weight at this stage.’
In March, a John Lewis spokesperson said its project would provide ‘much-needed new private and affordable housing for the local area as well as improved community facilities, new commercial space and a new Waitrose shop’.
Modular specialist Tide Construction and JTP have previously worked together on buildings including the 35-storey Lewisham Exchange in South London, claimed to be the tallest modular student accommodation tower in the world.
JTP said it would not be commenting ‘at this current stage’.
https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/jtp-submits-plans-for-21-storey-tower-in-ealing-tall-building-cluster
