Earls Court

Earls Court Development Company (ECDC) has unveiled a draft masterplan to rejuvenate the long-neglected 40-acre Earls Court development site.

The proposed redevelopment includes plans to create the first large-scale Zero Carbon energy-sharing network in the UK, which would enable local people to benefit from cost-effective heat networks. The project would also create up to 15,000 jobs, with the development becoming a research and development hub for green technology, attracting businesses that can help tackle the climate crisis.

The masterplan is set to evolve over the course of 2023, with a planning application due to be submitted by the end of the year.

The first phase of development, comprising 1,300 homes, the park, and vital east-west connections, is scheduled to commence in 2025.

With only 40% of the land currently built on, the masterplan prioritizes the streetscape and public open spaces. The development will feature landscaped piazzas, play spaces, and public gardens at the entrances, connected through a network of pedestrianized streets and spaces to a park at the heart of the site. The central ‘Table’ park will repurpose part of the former Exhibition Centre structure and connect those who live, work, and visit Earls Court.

The proposals are now available for everyone to view at the new and improved Conversation Corner, which has moved into a larger space on Lillie Road (opposite Hotel Lily).

Sheppard Robson, Serie Architects and dRMM have been appointed as the architects for the Hammersmith & Fulham part of the first phase of the redevelopment of the Earls Court Exhibition Centres site.

This stage will incorporate up to 1,300 mixed-use homes, cultural spaces and offices.

Construction is due to commence in 2025.

Danish practice SLA (Stig Lennart Anderson) has been appointed as the landscape architect across the whole development site.

The newly appointed architect and landscape architect teams will work alongside masterplanners Hawkins Brown and Studio Egret West to develop detailed designs for the first phase of the emerging masterplan.

ACME will be responsible for a signature office building at the key entrance to the site on Warwick Road in Kensington & Chelsea.

Architects Haworth Tompkins and Maccreanor Lavington will collaborate to bring forward the first homes within Kensington & Chelsea, with a significant cultural offer, located in the heart of the site.

Rob Heasman, CEO of The Earls Court Development Company commented: “We have welcomed all of the submissions and are pleased to announce these exceptional designers who will add to our professional team. This is the team who will bring the detailed design, the texture and the colour to the first phase of the reimagined Earls Court. Working with them, we intend to build on everything that is wonderful about the area today and create a new part of our great city. Accelerating the detailed design of this significant tranche of the masterplan will help bring forward a vast array of benefits including new homes, employment opportunities, cultural attractions and beautiful open spaces for all to enjoy."