Earls Court, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, for The Earls Court Development Company, with Hawkins\Brown and Studio Egret West

Earls Court’s 16ha site will include 4,000 new homes targeting 35% affordable alongside 240,000sqm of workspace and 12,000 new jobs. As for public realm, 60% of the site will be unbuilt, with plans including a network of Exhibition Gardens and open spaces. Three large new cultural and performance venues intend to provide an ecosystem for the future of creative talent.

Who is on the project team? (designer, consultants, etc)

Collaborating master planners: Hawkins\Brown + Studio Egret West

Project management: G&T

Cost: Cast Structures and transport: WSP

Sustainability and M&E: Hoare Lea

Planning: DP9

Agents: JLL and Knight Frank

Townscape: Tavernor Consultancy

Heritage: Montagu Evans

Social value: Real Worth

Engagement: London Communication Agency

Engagement: Iceni

Public affairs: Field Communications 

Describe the context of this project, its neighbourhood and people.

The site is the largest cleared development opportunity in Zone 1. ECDC has a vision ‘to bring the wonder back to Earls Court’ with a masterplan which opens up the site, celebrates the legacy of world-class ingenuity, creates a better piece of city, and responds to the climate emergency. With a commitment to working with communities and stakeholders from day one, ECDC is ensuring their activity supports the generation of social and economic impact across the local community throughout the lifetime of the project. The impact of the closure of the Exhibition Centres on the local economy was drastic, with approximately £2bn per year lost in contributions to the UK economy. The site is bordered to the west by the West Kensington & Gibbs Green Estates, in Hammersmith & Fulham and to the east, in Kensington and Chelsea, by the Georgian terraces of the Philbeach Gardens conservation area. The largest public green space is Brompton Cemetery, apart from the cemetery, green space is currently confined to private back gardens and gated garden squares. Local people are engaged and passionate; consultation and collaboration with the local community in all that we do is a central plank of our approach. As part of this a Public Realm Inclusivity Panel (PRIP) has been set up to give a voice to local people in the shaping of the outdoor spaces within Earls Court. They are a diverse group of people, aged 15 and up, with a range of lived experiences, requirements and support needs. 

Please describe your approach to this future place and its mix of uses. How will it function as a vibrant place? How does it knit into, and serve the needs of, the wider area?

Earls Court was an iconic destination with deep meaning for the local community. ECDC and Hawkins\Brown + Studio Egret West have taken a collaborative approach, implementing a broad and deep community engagement programme, including establishing a Public Realm Inclusion Panel and extensive community outreach. Utilising our understanding of the local community, the project team developed a framework stitching the site back into existing neighbourhoods, welcoming local people in through an inclusive and people-first masterplan. With open space a priority, a network of exhibition gardens will connect the site, from a community green at Aisgill Gardens, knitting the western edge of the site into the new development and providing connections through to locally established high streets, leading through to the Cascades, integrating water and play into the landscape and taking visitors up to the Table Park at the heart of the site. The local area will see this scorched earth site restored and reimagined as a new Westside Story for the 22nd Century, providing a significant investment into the local, London and UK economy, bringing homes, culture, open space, skills and training. Earls Court will provide a network of workspaces designed to foster collaboration and innovation, with 2.5 million sq. ft. of space across three locations including affordable and low-cost workspace for SMEs, charities, and community organisations. The magnificent heritage of live events and music will be revived in new indoor and outdoor venues, catering for diverse local, national and international audiences in a setting which fosters culture and creativity throughout. 

What is the environmental impact of the project? How will the carbon use and material impact of the development be mitigated? What is the sustainability strategy?

Sustainability and our ambition to go Beyond Net Zero informs the whole, predominantly car-free development. Fossil-fuel free from construction to operation. We will be delivering one of the largest ambient loop low temperature energy sharing networks in the UK providing zero carbon operational energy from day one. Eventually we will be able to be an exporter of low carbon, low-cost energy to our communities around us. We have employed Eon to prove we deliver this. We will also be capturing waste heat energy from our neighbours, enabling them to reduce their carbon footprint. Buildings are being designed to hit very low embodied carbon targets (LETI, UKGBC). Residential buildings of all scales are designed to Passivhaus principles and are typically achieving an HQM of 4.5. Workspace is designed to be exemplars of sustainable design, aiming at lower than LETI and targeting NABERS 4.5. The masterplan and public realm is designed to have zero rainwater run-off. Grey water is retained and used within buildings to further reduce potable water consumption. All is stored and re-used on site before ultimately going into natural infiltration, thus reducing the risk of local flooding - a key issue in this part of London. It will also be used to support one of the richest, most biodiverse natural landscapes in London, creating a link for nature across parts of London for the first time in 150 years. All of this is measured using our Sustainability Portal, based upon our SDC.