Major Town Centre Office Block Gets Go Ahead

Despite objections that it's poorly designed and too dominant

A major new office block - the first such commercial development in a decade - is to be built in Ealing town centre.

Commercial Estates Group (CEG) have been given approval to for 52-58 Uxbridge Road in a £50m scheme.

CEG say it will bring huge economic benefits to Ealing, including thousands of new jobs.

Nick Lee, Head of Commercial Development at CEG, said: “Despite the Brexit uncertainty, we are confident that Ealing offers a fantastic investment opportunity, due to the arrival of Crossrail and the fact that it doesn’t have the office stock to capitalise on the significant enquiries in the market place.

“Our proposals will deliver Ealing’s first new Grade A office space in nearly a decade, enabling it to effectively compete with the West End as a prime business location.”

In 2015 Central Ealing Residents Association (CERA) objected to the proposals. Writing to Ealing planners they said they would have supported something that was well designed and sympathetic to its location and surroundings. But, they said the building - which will rise to 10 storeys - will be too dominant and was inappropriately situated next to a locally listed building.

'' the scale and design of the proposal relates very poorly to the architecture and height of the nearby fire station (a locally listed heritage asset) and will be totally out of scale with it due to the cliff like 10+ storey frontage to St Leonard’s Road... it is much too tall at its western end and it projects forward far too much towards Uxbridge Road, which conflicts with adjacent buildings and over-emphasizes its huge bulk. For these reasons the proposed scheme, in its current form, is unacceptable and should be refused.''

Last week the scheme was rubber stamped by Ealing planners.

Building work is expected to start in April.

25th January 2017