Controversial project will replace Bullnose building with four-storey office and add new eastbound platform

RSHP’s controversial plans for the redevelopment of South Kensington station will start later this year after Transport for London included the scheme in its business plan.

Approved at appeal in 2023, the project will replace the station’s characteristic Bullnose building with a four-storey office building, and deliver 50 new homes on sites near the station.

The scheme will also add a step-free entrance on Thurloe Street, accessible lifts to platforms and a new eastbound platform for the Circle and District line.

The project is being led by developer Native Land and TfL’s development company Places for London, which promised a “station that the area can be proud of”.

RSHP’s plans for the grade II-listed site were initially rejected by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in 2021 but the decision was overturned two years later on the grounds that there was “sound reason” for the redevelopment.

But the scheme has faced opposition from multiple heritage groups including Save Britain’s Heritage, which has said the proposals would see the low-rise station area overwhelmed with “anywheresville” office buildings.

Bullnose 2022 GM

Source: Google Maps

The existing Bullnose building in South Kensington

RSHP’s plans for South Kensington Station are the sixth separate set of proposals to be worked up for the site since the 1980s, all of which have been confronted by heritage campaigners.

Scott, Brownrigg & Turner, Terry Farrell & Partners, Francis Machin, John McAslan & Partners and Buckley Gray Yeoman were responsible for previous schemes.

Native Land and Places for London have defended the project, highlighting the planned restoration of the station building’s historic arcade and describing RSHP’s Bullnose office building as “carefully crafted”.

Places for London head of property development Scott Andrerson said the redevelopmentw will make South Kensington the “jewel of the tube network”.

“This hard-working station will become a place London can be proud of welcoming its many visitors to, as well as a vastly improved facility for locals and passengers in and around South Kensington,” he added.

Native Land chief executive Alasdair Nicholls said the project would “unlock huge benefits for Londoners”.

Meanwhile, deputy London mayor for transport Seb Dance said: “The restoration of this historic design, as well as the addition of new affordable housing, office space and commercial opportunities, is exactly the kind of development we need as we continue to build a better London for everyone.”

Work on detailed design for the final station improvements will progress in the coming months, with enabling works for the around-station development starting later in 2026.

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