In 2015, Stanhope, Mitsui Fudosan and AIMCo acquired Media Village in White City from the BBC, close to Television Centre, adding to their long-term commitment and investment in the area. Establishing strategic connections between these two developments, Stanhope worked closely with several major landowners including Imperial College London, Westfield London and Berkeley St James, to implement a shared vision for White City including up to 5,000 high quality homes, over 2m sq ft of offices, new public spaces, an enhanced world-class shopping offer and a hub for academia, innovation and start-ups.

Following Imperial College’s expansion in White City, including the Molecular Sciences Research Hub and The Sir Michael Uren Biomedical Engineering Research Hub, a concentration of life sciences innovators has formed. Being next to Imperial meant that White City Place was ideally situated to provide accommodation for life science businesses who were drawn to this emerging knowledge cluster. 

White City Place comprises six workspace buildings of c.1m sq ft united by new public realm and street level retail. The development included the refurbishment and repositioning of three existing buildings to transform them into modern working environments: WestWorks, MediaWorks and the Garden House. Having inherited former BBC buildings with greater ceiling heights than standard offices, Stanhope were able to provide both office and wet and dry laboratories as required by life science occupiers. Large floor plates and communications infrastructure certified by Wired as best-in-class ensure the buildings will remain resilient and adaptable to future technologies. As well as meeting infrastructure needs, a high quality events and enlivenment programme has been critical in attracting commercial tenants and helped to establish White City as a destination in its own right.