Massive Development Plan for Centre of Chiswick

Sainsbury's relocation and high-rise development on car park proposed

Proposals for a major redevelopment in Chiswick have emerged which would substantially change the face of the High Road.

Top London architectural firm TateHindle has drawn up a designs (see artist's impressions below) which would see the large Sainsbury's supermarket move from its current location to have its main entrance on Chiswick High Road opposite Turnham Green.

The current site around the Sainsbury's car park would then be turned into a mixed use development comprised of apartments, retail and commercial premises.

The project is spearheaded by the property management company Invista. It is not known how far advanced the plans are at this stage but no application for planning permission appears to have been submitted as yet.

TateHindle refused to comment on the development which is known as the Chiswick High Road Project but its website describes it as "a unique opportunity to reinvigorate the west end of Chiswick High Road." The plans were originally published on their web site but were removed on Monday (12th March).

Under the plan, 96 apartments would be split between two blocks: an existing 12-storey office building would be converted into forty apartments with views across the park, and a new five-storey residential block to the north which would enclose a central landscaped courtyard. The proposals provide for the tower to be re-clad, with retail at ground level.

A further design envisages a new 13,000 square foot office-block, fronting Acton Lane, to maintain the "quantum of employment space" within the development.

ChiswickW4.com has asked Hounslow Borough Council if it is aware of the plan but has not yet received a reply. However one councillor commented: "It sounds like over development to me. We already have an outcry over a development beside Gunnersbury Triangle".

Local residents will be anxious to know what parking arrangements would be incorporated into any development plan for the area. Chiswick is already suffering from parking congestion and some local traders have blamed a decline in sales on problems for shoppers finding parking. The site of the car park doesn't belong to Sainsbury's and they use it under an agreement with Hounslow Council which has covenants attached to it restricting use.

Shops on that stretch of High Road near the proposed development include Blockbuster, Carpet Right, La Tasca, Headmasters, Holland and Barratt, Dada, Cancer Research, Shook, Caffe Nero, and Dexters.

Invista have been contacted for comment on the proposed development.

Artist's Impressions of Project

Chiswick High Road showing new Sainsbury's stretching from Essex Place toward Acton Lane

Aerial view from over Turnham Green looking across at development on site of Sainsbury's car park.

View Across Turnham Green showing new Sainsbury's

Pictures from Tate Hindle web site

March 12, 2012