Project will be built on a long-derelict Woolworths site and include 268 suites alongside new co-working spaces
Ealing Council has unanimously approved plans by Assael Architecture to redevelop the former Woolworths site on Broadway, West Ealing, into a 268-suite aparthotel.
The scheme, designed for client Luxgrove Capital Partners, also includes 670 sq m of co-working space, a café, a courtyard garden accessible to the public and rooftop terraces for guest use. The site at 96-102 Broadway, bounded by Singapore Road and Broadway, has remained vacant since the Woolworths store was demolished in 2019.
Assael’s design is intended to reference the original Art Deco façade of the Woolworths building.
Tim Chapman-Cavanagh, director at Assael, said: “This project gave us an amazing opportunity to pay homage to the much-loved Woolworths façade that previously existed on this site and provide an aparthotel that can contribute so much to the surrounding community. We hope that this proposal will reinvigorate this part of the Broadway.”
The original Woolworths store was built in 1926 and traded until Woolworths’ national closure in 2008.
Housing association A2Dominion secured consent in 2019 for a scheme of 120 flats in a tower rising from 11 to 15 storeys, despite more than 250 written objections and a petition signed by over 1,200 residents calling for the façade to be preserved. Local groups and the Ealing Civic Society opposed demolition, but attempts to have the building designated a heritage asset were unsuccessful, and the site was cleared later that year.
The new scheme by Assael includes features such as green roofs and native planting aimed at increasing biodiversity net gain across the site.
Luxgrove said the aparthotel would form part of its wider plans to deliver five schemes in the area. Co-founder William McKenna said: “We’re delighted that Ealing Council has unanimously approved our plans. This vibrant new aparthotel will breathe new life into the former Woolworths site, which has sadly laid vacant for a number of years.
“Its prime location on Broadway makes it ideal for attracting both leisure and business travellers along with longer term guests. The scheme will also help diversify the residential offer in the area, marking a major step in the regeneration of West Ealing.”
The professional team on the project includes Savills, Markides, DAMA, BEC, Prime Phenix, eB7, MKA ecologists, ADTrees, Merdian Civil Engineering Consultancy and Auricl Acoustics.
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