London Photo Gallery - Earls Court Regeneration

The Earls Court area was a place of entertainment during Victorian times, hosting fairs and exhibitions. This piece of land was carved out by the railways that arrived in the 1860s, isolating the area. The answer was to turn it into an entertainment venue, and it was immensely successful - even Queen Victoria visited. An exhibition centre opened in 1937 but has since been demolished over a decade ago. The triangular site has sat empty awaiting redevelopment, although a 2015 plan fell apart due to opposition that existing social housing would be demolished. The site changed hands in 2019 and the current plan is to build about 4000 new homes on the 44 acre site under a joint venture between Transport for London and a Dutch pension company, with about 35% of them deemed affordable. Its footprint will eventually link up with 3 Tube stations - West Kensington, Earl's Court, and West Brompton with cultural facilities and offices that will complement the residences. The tallest tower is expected to reach 42 stories. As part of its community engagement while the masterplan is being reviewed by council, the development company hosts occasional tours to outline their plan as well as to visit the site. Empress Place is expected to be transformed into a grand boulevard. It was previously derelict and part of the initial transformation is to turn the rowhouses on both sides of the street into studios and offices, while a small section of the development site houses sports facilities and a community space. The tour starts at the project office where staff go through the site's history and outline their development vision. About half of my tour's participants were locals, who seem to be concerned about the affordable aspects of this masterplan, as well as some sour taste from prior redevelopments nearby that shunned the social housing aspects in favour of building and selling expensive market-rate units. The tour's highlight is to access 'the table', a raised platform above the train tracks that is fenced off and cannot be accessed unless on tour. It will eventually form a large park. From this vantage point, you can appreciate the vastness of the site as well its current emptiness. Most of the plan's objections so far have come from the Kensington and Chelsea side, while supporters outnumber objections on the Hammersmith and Fulham side, showcasing the income divide between the two sides. A community centre just off the site has a large scale model of the plan and a lot more information on the design and various phases. While the plan was submitted to council in 2024 and will be subject to a long period of scrutiny, they expect the first residents can move in around 2030.