We believe our proposed scheme at Bollo Lane, W4, sets a new direction for thinking about forgotten stretches of land that are all too common around London’s transport infrastructure, by creating spaces for people.

 

We submitted the Bollo Lane masterplan to the London Borough of Ealing as a Hybrid Planning Application on behalf of Transport for London in March 2020.

 

The vision includes a new pedestrian friendly green link, one which joins Chiswick Park in the south, to Acton Town Station in the north; through the creation of accessible public spaces and private terracing gardens, along a fully active and accessible ground floor that accommodates a range of uses.

 

A vibrant new community will live and work on a linear strip of underutilised land currently used for surface parking, TfL transport operations as well as car repair garages. 852 homes will be provided along the length of Bollo Lane, of which 50% will be affordable. A further 1,750m2 of B1 ‘maker spaces’ will line the Lane, reinforcing the rich industrial identity of the area, which has seen many changes over recent years with the redevelopment of the South Acton Estate through the Acton Gardens development. 

 

Currently, the long and narrow site runs alongside the Piccadilly and District Railway line and as a result suffers from a lack of connectivity and a poor relationship to the car dominated Bollo Lane. The Masterplan will adopt a healthy streets approach by creating a dedicated shared surface service road to run along the railway, assuring Bollo Lane will be lay-by free and evolve into a fully activated and safe pedestrian experience.  

 

The Masterplan responds to the surrounding street network, through a permeable and accessible series of buildings. An undulating skyline allows for two main focal points to be created, one at the centre of the site; and a landmark building of 25 storeys to the south of the site, adjacent to Chiswick business Park.

 

Working alongside East, the landscape architects, we have developed the building layouts and landscape to be experienced as a series of events along Bollo Lane. Careful consideration has been given to building height and spacing, and the design of the buildings. One such element is the colonnade, which will run the entire length of Bollo Lane. This element, rich in its expression, will connect the lower floors of the buildings and the spaces between to bring a human scale to the street experience, while highlighting building entrances and celebrating garden spaces.

 

We look forward to working with TfL, London Borough of Ealing and the local community to bring this vision to life.