Better Society Awards 2023
Fisherton Street is the first stage in Westminster City Council’s long-term regeneration of the socially and economically deprived Church Street neighbourhood, near Edgware Road. It is revitalising the physical quality of the neighbourhood and community wellbeing with 171 modern new homes, state-of-the-art community facilities, over £5m of community contributions and transformative enhancements to the public realm.
The scheme is the first to be delivered by Westminster Builds – Westminster City Council’s wholly-owned development arm – in partnership with Linkcity, placemaking specialist and a division of Bouygues. The partners have provided equal equity funding for the project and are jointly responsible for delivery, finances, marketing and sales; Linkcity is leading the construction.
Overcoming a historical lack of action at this site with a plan for ‘doing.’ Linkcity’s construction and placemaking expertise, alongside Westminster City Council’s drive to meet housing targets, has created a proactive environment for success.
The partnership enables the Council to address local authority funding issues and gives it control over the delivery of homes, tenure and community benefits. It has also influenced the strategy for the properties for sale, prioritising people locally and in London to give the borough’s residents first call on the opportunity to buy a home.
The project is exceptional for the partners’ commitment to sustainable, community-led placemaking which benefits everyone. Work at Fisherton Street started in October 2019 and completed in late 2022.
This development is of huge strategic importance to the Council and crucial to its ‘City for All’ strategy, which seeks to ensure that people of all aspirations can live well in the borough. High-quality housing is raising living standards for existing and new social housing tenants and creating home ownership opportunities for local people. It is transforming lives by meeting the critical need for more social rent homes in Westminster, where more than 4,000 households face an average wait of at least ten years on the social housing register.
Providing huge economic benefit, income generated by the sale of homes is unlocking funding to deliver new and refurbished homes, amenities and public space across the ten development sites in and around Church Street over a major 15-20 year regeneration programme.
Of the 171 new homes, 109 are for sale and 62 designated affordable, including 12 townhouses. The studio, one, two and three-bedroom apartments are housed in two six-storey buildings, arranged around a landscaped courtyard garden. These traditional brick buildings are designed by architects Flanagan Lawrence as a modern take on a classic London mansion with brickwork punctuated with delicate metal balconies and full-height windows, creating a sense of elegance and enhancing the neighbourhood.
Cllr Matt Noble, Cabinet Member for Climate Action, Regeneration and Renters at Westminster City Council, said: “Building genuinely affordable and social homes for local people is at the top of the list of priorities for the new administration and so we are pleased to be able to offer more social homes than originally planned as part of the Fisherton Street development.
“The average wait time in Westminster for a for two-bedroom property is ten years and 16 years for a three-bedroom. This is unacceptable and the affordable homes on this scheme are a step in the right direction for homeless families in Westminster. This development is just the beginning, and we want to continue to deliver bigger and more affordable homes, as well as make changes that will revitalise areas for local communities and provide better, greener places for residents to live.”
Sustainability is inherent throughout the scheme. The partners’ energy strategy goes beyond planning compliance levels, in response to the Council’s ‘climate emergency’ declaration and Linkcity’s exemplar approach to sustainability. Passive design and energy efficient features of the homes include insulation, low-air permeability, and high-performance glazing to reduce emissions. The scheme has a centralised energy centre; a communal air source heat pump uses renewable energy to provide heat and hot water to each home. The townhouses use individual air source heat pumps to provide heat and hot water to each home. Ample cycle storage is provided at basement level and 20% of the car parking spaces incorporate electric charging points.
The scheme includes new community amenities – a new triple-height, three-court sports hall and community space – which will bring people together and strengthen the neighbourhood’s great community spirit.
A significant increase in green space (around 40% across the entire regeneration) will transform the aesthetics of the area and improve access to the natural environment. The Fisherton Street development includes the first section of a new green spine, a landscaped pedestrian route that will better link Church Street with Marylebone and re-establish connectivity within the neighbourhood. Designed with pedestrian and cycle paths, gardens and play areas, it will encourage healthy living through opportunities for walking, cycling, play and exercise, while biodiverse green spaces will be wonderful places to relax and will attract birds and wildlife.
For the further enhancement of the area, the partners are making a £3m contribution towards local infrastructure and public realm, and a further £2.4m contribution to improve surrounding residential buildings.
To support the Church Street neighbourhood, Westminster has executed a community-led marketing programme to promote local businesses in the marketing collateral for the private sale homes, known as Carrick Yard. A competition with local homelessness charity Second Shot has raised awareness and supported fundraising.
An area of great vibrancy and character, the Church Street neighbourhood has suffered from issues of social and economic exclusion, despite its proximity to the West End. This scheme is kick-starting the transformational regeneration of an entire neighbourhood and creating a great environment where people will want to live, communities will thrive and businesses prosper.
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