Soho Square scheme approved: new archway, courtyard and the old Fox building
Westminster has approved a major redevelopment of four buildings on Soho Square, including the former 20th Century Fox home, despite opposition to a new archway.
A large redevelopment on Soho Square has been given the go-ahead. Westminster City Council approved the scheme, brought by Royal London UK Real Estate Fund, at a Planning Sub-Committee on Tuesday 27 October, according to the Evening Standard and the BBC, both drawing on the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
What is being built
The project covers four buildings, among them the former home of 20th Century Fox. Together they form a scheme of almost 9,000 square metres, with new office space, retail units and an archway onto Soho Square.
The main building will rise to eight storeys and will combine what is now 31-32 Soho Square and 65-66 Frith Street. The Standard reports that the neo-Georgian front of 31-32 Soho Square will be retained and restored up to the fourth floor.
Two further buildings, 22-25 Dean Street and 10 Chapone Place, will be refurbished. Overall the scheme adds a net 2,477 square metres of internal space.
Residential flats in Townsend House, one of the existing buildings, will remain part of the new development.
A courtyard and a new way through
An enclosed service yard at Chapone Place will become a landscaped public courtyard. The new archway on Soho Square is intended to create a pedestrian route through to Dean Street.
The scheme also includes 150 long-stay cycle spaces, seven of them for residents, and an affordable workspace for the community in the Dean Street building.
The archway row
The archway is the sticking point. The Soho Society, a local community group and charity, opposed it, saying the square should be protected as a space for “rest and recreation”. It also argued that the archway would disrupt the symmetry of the green space.
Its chair, Tim Lord, said: “The purpose and role of Soho Square is respite.” He added that the square is protected under the London Squares Preservation Act 1931, which limits it to garden, rest and recreation use, according to the BBC.
Residents of Townsend House asked for acoustic glazing on their rear windows and for heat pumps to be looked at. The Standard reports that this was added to the application as an informative.
The developer's case
Alistair Martin, from Simten Developments, said the application was “about giving a long, underused part of Soho a sustainable future, one that represents the very best of Soho”.
For anyone who cuts across Soho Square on the way to Dean Street, the change will be one to watch: a green space many treat as a pause in the grid, and a route that could soon run straight through its edge.
Know before you go
- Site: 31-32 Soho Square, 65-66 Frith Street, 22-25 Dean Street and 10 Chapone Place, Soho
- Approved: Tuesday 27 October, Westminster City Council Planning Sub-Committee
- Applicant: Royal London UK Real Estate Fund
Sources: Evening Standard, BBC News
