Work starts on 12.3m contract to transform Alfa Laval site on historic ‘Golden Mile’
Construction has started on a new £12.3m residential scheme, designed by Assael Architecture, on the site of the former Alfa Laval office on the Great West Road in Brentford, west London – the historic ‘Golden Mile’ of British industry.
Assael Architecture has designed the mixed-use scheme which includes private and affordable residential housing with a mix of one, two and three-bed apartments, three-bed duplex apartments and four-bed houses. A second phase will incorporate hotels, commercial office space, a car showroom and additional residential and community facilities.
United House will be carrying out the construction works on behalf of developer Carlton Properties. The project will transform the derelict office building site, which has stood empty for over 15 years, into a residential scheme comprising 69 new homes, 61 of which will be affordable properties for the local community.
The project will involve the partial demolition of the existing redundant 11-storey office building and elevated car parking areas which sits adjacent to the elevated section of the M4. The facade of the building is used as a large advertising display for the motorway traffic and this will be retained during the construction process. The build programme is scheduled for completion in September 2014.
United House’s work will represent the first phase of construction on the overall development and will involve the construction of a new row of terraced housing to the south of the site and a new five-storey apartment building to the west of the site, as well as foundation, landscaping and planting works.
Stuart Robinson, Director at Carlton, said: “Alfa Laval has been a very complex planning site which we have worked very hard to build an excellent relationship with the local authority to get to the right scheme that can be developed. Both members and the planning authority have engaged with us and we had promised to bring forward the affordable housing first to meet the needs of the borough. We will be bringing forward other parts of the scheme in due course.”
John Assael, Chairman at Assael, said: “The complexity of the site has highlighted the strength of both our architectural and planning expertise. This important derelict site will be brought back into use and the challenging transformation of this pivotal part of Brentford can finally get underway.”