Huge revamp promises jobs at ‘arts hub’
£700M REDEVELOPMENT OF OLYMPIA WINS APPROVAL
IT is home to some of London’s coolest events.
The Ideal Home Show, London Comic Con and London Book Fair to name just three.
Now Olympia Exhibition Centre is set to get an extraordinary £700 million revamp.
It’s hoped the redevelopment will be a game changer, turning it into a huge new arts landmark, with thousands of jobs being created in the process.
Hammersmith & Fulham Council (H&F’s) planning committee approved the plans on Wednesday January 30 before a packed public gallery.
So what is planned?
Owner Yoo Capital’s masterplan includes the partial demolition and redevelopment of the 130-year-old landmark in West Kensington.
The iconic look of the building will be retained, however, many locals attended the meeting to express dismay at the size of the development, and its effect on their local insfractrucure.
Council staff confirmed to them that London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Transport for London (TfL) had not backed their pleas for a reinstatement of a full service from the currently-limited District Line to Kensington Olympia Station to field an increase in visitors.
Staff said the plans instead included increasing bus services, and possibly lengthening the station’s platform.
Architect Trevor Morris told the hearing the design would preserve Olympia’s heritage features, and establish the area as an arts hub.
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With the demise of the former Earls Court Exhibition Centre, there was an opportunity for Olympia to be revitalised as an “iconic” venue for West London, he added.
“It’s about embedding the heritage and repairing the damage that has been caused by a lack of investment,” he said.
Once redeveloped there would be two new major artistic venues incorporating a 1,000-seat performing arts space and a 1,500-seat theatre, as well a four-screen art-house cinema.
There would be 10,000 square feet of performance and rehearsal space free for local charities to use, and a new jazz-club style restaurant.
Office space has been designed for creatives and media companies, while there would also be a sky garden, cafés, restaurants and shops.
Job creation
Mr Morris also said it would bring more than 5,000 new jobs for the area. Local incentives include free use of the arts spaces, and ticket benefits were promised.
Some who spoke in support of it at the hearing focused on the jobs being created and praised the design. The proposal was supported by Blythe Road Business Association, whose representative said it would bring much-needed outside spending.
But members of Sinclair Road Residents’ Association worried their area would become traffic-clogged.
Councillors also had mixed views on the scheme, with the most expressing concerns over the size of the 12-storey office building, and ability of local infrastructure to handle the extra workers and visitors.
Councillor Rebecca Harvey urged them to reject the application, saying she supported the concept, but it needed more work to be viable.
She said residents in nearby Blythe Road feared constant delivery vehicles and visitor traffic.
“People have said they want improvement and they want something good for Olympia, but they are really concerned,” she added.
Councillor David Morton supported the application, saying it would bring spending to the area and put Olympia on the arts map.
He said it was a positive use of the site, which he said could have been targeted by developers for “luxury flats or a soulless shopping mall”.
However, he warned he had some concerns about such a big development in uncertain economic conditions, worrying it could lead to unwanted redevelopment if it was ever split up.
Two Conservative councillors were outvoted by four Labour counterparts to approve the application.