Imperial puts Frame to work on £1bn Carphone Warehouse redevelopment

Imperial College London is preparing to bring forward plans to create a new heart of North Acton, West London. The college has appointed Frame RE to draw up proposals for a £1bn redevelopment of Carphone Warehouse’s headquarters into a 1,400-home mixed-use development and sustainable, new HQ for the retailer. A public consultation launched this week for the 4.5-acre site at One Portal Way, W3, which Imperial College London’s endowment fund bought from Crosstree Real Estate in 2016 for £83.5m. The site has an existing consent for a 1m sq ft scheme comprising 764 flats, 16,000 sq ft of office space and 33,000 sq ft of retail and leisure spread across eight buildings ranging in height from six to 32 storeys. Frame RE, a “talent collective” set up by former Lipton Rogers Developments director Yair Ginor, intends to draw up new plans to transform the site and open up the land, which has been closed off from the rest of North Acton for decades. Ginor said that during the five years of ownership by Imperial, the area around the site had undergone a “tremendous change” with a number of towers being built around the Carphone Warehouse site. At nearby 6 Portal Way, W3, City & Docklands is developing One West Point, a 54-storey residential-led mixed-use tower. The scheme, which will provide more than 700 flats, is scheduled for completion in 2022. At 2 Portal Way, Dephna Group has consent to build two BTR towers of 35 and 25 storeys that will provide close to 400 homes, while at 4 Portal Way, Ealing Council has approved plans to demolish the Holiday Inn on the site and replace it with 700 flats. The scheme, by Aldau Development, will comprise two towers of 45 and 55 storeys. Holistic revival “This site was the empty heart of the whole area,” said Ginor. “We realise that it is our responsibility to create a new heart for this place and create a neighbourhood to eat, play and sleep in.” Ginor said he was keen that the development helped North Acton to become more than just a population of students and that Frame would be delivering homes where a full spectrum of residents could live. “Our vision is never to create a site with a single use or a single user,” he said. “We want to see a broad base of users.” Frame’s residential plans for the scheme include co-living, BTR, for sale, plus later living residences and a hotel. Michael Allen, formerly director of BTR at Quintain, has joined the Frame delivery team to progress the residential offer on site. The team also includes William Polisano, formerly of Lipton Rogers and co-founder of Drum London, which develops temporary space for the homeless, as well as Subjit Jassy, a former partner at Resolution and Quadrant Estates. Alongside residential, the scheme is also likely to provide a new HQ for Carphone Warehouse. Ginor said discussions are already under way to find or create a more sustainable, fit-for-purpose office. As a key employer in the area, keeping Carphone Warehouse on site is the favoured option. The firm’s lease on the building expires in 2030. It pays an annual rent of around £4m. A range of spaces for SMEs will also form a key part of the development, said Ginor, with studios, maker spaces, convenience retail and community uses all part of the plan. Ginor said Frame was using a number of technologies – some coming straight out of innovation teams at Imperial – to bring forward its development plan. It is also working with Google’s Sidewalk Labs, utilising its Delve programme to run hundreds of thousands of scenarios for the site. Delve uses AI based on a range of inputs including density, daylight, amenities, infrastructure and use class to come up with numerous potential designs, with costs, energy usage and scale. Testing innovation “We could not have asked for a more exciting first scheme for Frame than One Portal Way,” Ginor said. “It gives us the opportunity not only to deliver important proposals for a prominent client such as Imperial College London, but also to showcase how our company can contribute to a changing London at such a pivotal time, when the capital is looking to bounce back from the pandemic. “With Imperial’s and our passion for pushing the boundaries of everything we do, we can use the project as an opportunity to test various innovations in sustainability and design.” Consultation on the project will run throughout the summer, with the ambition to submit a planning application to Ealing Council in October. Architect Pilbrow & Partners has been selected to design the scheme. The redevelopment of the site will be Imperial’s third major redevelopment project in the North Acton area. Over the past six years it has developed more than 700 student beds, plus residential and flexible office space at 140 Wales Farm Road, W3, and delivered a 724-bed student scheme at Woodward Halls. The college also has a 23-acre educational campus at White City. To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@eg.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @EGPropertyNews Photos: Frame RE