BACK TO EARLS COURT
Progress update ahead of asking for your feedback on our draft masterplan this winter
WE HAVE A
Autumn 2022
CONTE NTS 05 The opportunity 06 Building on our framework – our recent engagement 08 Building on our framework – your feedback 10 What’s happening on site 12 Celebrating Earls Court 14 Supporting the local community 20 A vision to bring the wonder back 24 Thank you 02
OU
IO
IES
These priorities reflect extensive work to understand the area, including thousands of conversations with the local community and key stakeholders. We have been delighted to see such a positive response to all four priorities. Priority Two Priority Three Priority Four Priority One Open up the former Exhibition Centre site for the first time in 150 years Giving back to local communities Provide a showground of world-class ingenuity Celebrating its legacy and history Create a better piece of city A blueprint for future generations Addressing the climate emergency An ambition to go beyond net-zero This draft masterplan will be based on four priorities:
R PR
R IT
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TH E OPP ORT UN ITYORTU N
West
Kensington Station
West Brompton Station
The team at The Earls Court Development Company (ECDC) is tasked with realising this huge opportunity for local communities, London and the UK.
The Earls Court Development Company (ECDC) is an Earl’s Court based business, responsible for driving the regeneration of the 40 acre, former Earls Court Exhibition Centre site on behalf of the Earls Court Partnership Limited – a joint venture between Delancey (on behalf of its client funds and the Dutch pension fund manager, APG) and Transport for London (TfL) that was formed in December 2019. The first decision ECDC took after acquiring the site was to hand back the West Kensington and Gibbs Green housing estates to Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
Over the last two years, we have focused on bringing life back to the site and to the homes and properties which had been left empty, ensuring that the plans enhance the whole area –not just the boundary line of the site – both now and in the future. During this time, we have been talking with local people, listening and learning about this fascinating part of London and understanding local priorities.
The Table The Train Shed at Lillie Bridge Depot Empress State Building Ashfield House Warwick Apron Empress Place West Brompton Apron WEST CROMWELL ROAD WARWICK ROAD WARWICK ROAD LILLIEROAD West
Earl’s Court Station
London line SouthernRail DistrictDistrictline line District line District line Piccadillyline
Brompton346–350Old Road
The ECDC team leading the project, taken at our office on Empress Place
In the summer, we shared some early concepts with the community. Our design team are now using your feedback to shape a draft masterplan design which we will present to you this winter.
We have an opportunity to create something extraordinary on this 40 acre site
The
Community Hub
Aisgill Avenue
Philbeach Gardens
Mannequin Factory
Eardley Crescent
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Our summer engagement in numbers
Over the summer,
spoke to
of you about our concepts for the future of Earls Court. Thank you to everyone who has engaged with us and given valuable feedback – you are helping to shape the future of Earls Court.
563,364 people reached by social media posts to promote engagement activities
households receiving regular community newsletters
attendees at 10 design workshops held to date 1,050+ conversations with the public over summer 2022
respondents to four Commonplace surveys
people from underrepresented groups attending dedicated sessions to ensure public space is inclusive
36,000
220+
500+
50+
we
hundreds
BUIL DIN G ON OU R FRAM EW OU R RE CE NT EN GA GEMEN TON OU R FRAM EW OR K –NT EN GA GEMEN T BUIL DIN G ON OU R FRAM EW OU R RE CE NT EN GA GEMEN TON OU R FRAM EW OR K –NT EN GA GEMEN T Mund Street Green Community Fun Day
Public Realm Inclusivity Panel
In June 2022, we recruited a Public Realm Inclusivity Panel (PRIP), consisting of representatives from a number of groups from the local area (RBKC and LBHF). This included youth groups, disability support groups and older people, to help us understand the diverse needs of the local residents.
The panel is working closely with the design and development team to help shape the public spaces in the Earls Court site. They will use their lived experiences, site tours and workshops to help us make sure the emerging masterplan is inclusive and welcoming to everyone.
We held our first meeting in July and expect to meet monthly for the next year.
What happens now?
We know everyone is extremely keen to see a draft masterplan and we will be ready to share this with the local community this winter. Taking into account the feedback we have received to date and using our detailed understanding of the site, our masterplanners are currently progressing the early plans.
We will host an extensive programme of consultation events, community days, webinars, workshops and more to give you every opportunity to understand the plans and genuinely influence the designs as they further develop.
Do sign up now for our newsletter if you haven’t already to be kept informed about our consultation and to have your say!
Masterplanning workshop at the Project Rooms Participants at our PRIP meeting earlier this summer Scan to sign up to our newsletter.07
we have
We have been carefully analysing your feedback and working out what is most important to the community as we work up the draft masterplan design. Over the summer, we shared our initial framework plan for the first time and this can still be found on our website. Here we have summarised the key themes and asks which emerged during our most recent engagement – the ranking is based on how often the issue came up and the variety of sources who raised it. These rankings will probably change as the masterplan develops further and we will keep this updated as more feedback comes through from the community.
What
learnt
Publicly available green space Talent development opportunities More community facilities Intergenerational housing and working Improve connections Traffic and parking Improve safety Rank One Rank Two Urgency 344–350 Old Brompton Road Exhibition / performance / rehearsal space Clarity on affordable housing Deliver accessibility Mitigate meanwhile use impacts Underbelly Festival Reassurance on overlooking Improve offer for food and drink BUIL DIN G ON OU R FRAM EW YO UR F EED BAC K OU ON OU R FRAM EW OR K –BAC K BUIL DIN G ON OU R FRAM EW YO UR F EED BAC K 08
Rank Three Rank Four
World class cultural offer Swimming pool / outdoor lido Bus connections Well considered recycling and litter strategies Consider impact on North End Road Market and Earls Court Road –complement not compete Connection to Earls Court neighbourhood Architectural identity Connections from St Cuthbert's Church Design quality of tall buildings Citizen’s Advice Bureau Diversified workspace Improved cycle connections Retention of Empress Place Lillie Bridge Depot Improve air quality around the site Children’s play space/ adventure playground Celebrate the area's LGBTQ+ history Encourage international appeal Deliver a food market A world class cultural offer Provision of sports facilities / classes Emphasis on inclusivity Concerns around high-density Water / rivers Places to relax 09
ENI
WHA T'S HAPP ENIN G ON
ON S ITEON SI TE
We wanted to take this opportunity to tell you more about the work we have already been doing to bring the wonder back to Earls Court.
At our current exhibition in Conversation Corner (running until 15 October), you can walk around and get a flavour of the work already happening to transform this important part of West London. Our work so far can be split into three broad themes:
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Celebrating Earls Court –and our area’s rich cultural history
S ITE
NG ON SI TE G
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If you’d like to feed back on anything, you can: Call us on 0330 33 1510 Email us on info@earlscourtdevco.com Tag us on social media @earlscourtdevco or use the hashtag #ECDCWonder Follow us on social media for the latest information A vision to bring the wonder back –with a range of onsite events and activities 03 Supporting the local community –by helping businesses and investing in the next generation In Conversation Corner, you’ll hear music playing from our Sounds of Earl’s Court Spotify playlists, which celebrate the musical history and importance of the area. Scan the QR code on page 13 to listen along. 02 The 2022 cohort receiving their cheques at the Community Hub 11
CE L EBR AT IN G EAR LS COU RT G EAR LS COU RT
London Design Festival
We are proud to be a part of London Design Festival this year, the first time that the LDF has come to Earl's Court – ever!
We commissioned a self-guided walking tour celebrating the architecture and design of Earl’s Court entitled ‘20 Things’.
Curated by architect Sam Jacob, the walk explores twenty landmarks, historically significant locations and examples of notable architecture and design in Earl’s Court. Along the way, visitors can see everything from archways and advertising billboards to the residence where David Bowie wrote Space Oddity. This tour truly showcases the heritage of the area and celebrates the rich and illustrious cultural history of Earl's Court.
Open House London
These are just some of the ways we’ve been working with you to promote Earls Court and the wider area, and celebrate the local people, businesses, and communities which make this such a special place.
Since we bought the site, we have been determined to open it up for public use with a wide range of activities.
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North End Road Market Festival
On Saturday 24 September, we were delighted to support The Lillie Stage at the North End Road Market Autumn Festival. Our team were out in force to enjoy the festivities and speak to people about our plans for the site.
It was the first time the festival had taken place in three years, bringing the community together to enjoy a range of musicians and street performers, browse the 150+ stalls and try street food from around the globe. Roll on the next one...
Flavours of Earl's Court
The streets around Earl's Court are packed with delicious food from across the world, which we have been celebrating through the “flavours of Earl's Court” social media campaign.
We are spotlighting mouth-watering local restaurants and food vendors, tempting people to try out somewhere they may have overlooked.
Soundtracks of Earl's Court
We’ve been working with Sound Diplomacy to celebrate our area’s rich musical history with a series of Spotify playlists. Whatever your mood, we’ve got the soundtrack for you –just scan the QR codes around Conversation Corner to ‘plug in.’
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The Community Hub
In June 2022, we opened a new Community Hub on Aisgill Avenue, adjacent to the Gibbs Green Estate, West Kensington. This was built by the previous owners of the site, but was left unused and empty. We have turned this into a flexible space run by and for local residents. It hosts a range of activities and classes every week for local people to enjoy and benefit from.
The Hub hosts meetings for community groups and businesses, while social spaces will make this a focal point for the community to come together and see friends and family. The gardens have also been restored and are being looked after by Hammersmith Community Gardens Association.
Summer of fun at the Hub
The Community Hub is run by Gigi Yacoub, a local resident herself, and has already hosted over 100 events over July, August and September. Most events are free and the programme is designed so there is something for everyone.
Gigi can be contacted at gigi.yacoub@earlscourtdevco.com or 07935 706 322
Events and classes so far have included:
East African Dance
Poetry Workshops
Family Fun Dinners
Bingo
…and much more!
That’s why we have been investing in real resources to help local businesses, families, and communities. Whether you’re a business trying to take off in this challenging economic time, a charity needing support, or a local family looking for opportunities for your children, we want to help.
We want to make sure that everyone in our area benefits from our plans for Earls Court, in the short and long term.Gigi Yacoub, Community Hub
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What’s coming up
eventsFREEfor
Now that the summer is coming to an end, we’ve prepared a new schedule of ‘back to school’ activities to keep spirits high this autumn! Come along and join in with one of our upcoming FREE events...
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Breakfast Club
Hungry Tums
10–11am
Zumba 11.30am–12.30pm
Children’s
Arts & Crafts 4.30–5.30pm Yoga 6.30–7.30pm
Breakfast Club
Hungry Tums
10am–12pm
Parenting Workshops
Family Links 12.30–2.30pm
Homework Club 4.30–5.30pm
Snack and Chat
10am–1pm
Adult Chair Exercises
11am–12pm
Closing at 2.30pm
Scouts Registration required
Power-up Coffee Morning
9.30am–12.30pm
50+ Tai Chi 1–2pm
Homework Club 4.30–5.30pm
Community Bingo 6.30–8pm £1 per book
Sewing Class
9.30am–12.30pm
Snack and Chat 12.30–3pm
Massage Session
1–3pm
Boxfit (5–11yrs) 4.30–5.30pm
Youth Session (12–18yrs) 5.30–7.30pm
Come along and take part
Join in the fun
You can find us at 1a Aisgill Avenue, W14 9NF MundStreet AisgillAve Aisgill AveNorth End Road West Kensington West Kensington Estate West Brompton Empress Studios Empress Place The PrinceECDC Project Rooms Thaxton Road Marchbank Road LillieRoad Community Hub
everyone The Community Hub 15
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Community Fund
We launched our £180,000 annual community fund in 2021. This fund aims to support our local community around the site. So far, the 2021 fund has helped close to 11,000 people, providing over 14,000 meals to people who need them, more than 900 1-to-1 support sessions and supporting close to 200 rough sleepers or people at risk of homelessness.
Earlier this month, we announced the 18 local organisations who will receive money from the 2022 Community Fund, bringing our total investment in the community to £360,000 – so far! We run a fully transparent application process and grants are decided by a panel of community representatives ranging from help for people at risk of homelessness, support for vulnerable groups like older people, asylum seekers, or people with disabilities, to cultural organisations like local theatres and sports clubs. We are proud to be investing directly into our community.
In 2021, we helped:
Barons Court Project
Community Education Forum
Dadihiye Somali Development Organisation
Dads House
Earl’s Court Community Trust
Family Friends
Finborough Theatre
London Sports Trust
Open Age
Outside Edge Theatre Company
Response Community Projects
Solidarity Sports
St Andrew’s, Fulham Fields
St Cuthbert’s Centre
St Cuthbert with St Matthias CE School
The Brunswick Club for Young People
The Smile Brigade
Urbanwise London
10 th Fulham Scout Group
In 2022, we are helping:
10 th Fulham Scout Group
Action On Disability
Barons Court Project
Burnt Orange Theatre
Community Education Forum
Doorstep Library
Earl’s Court Community Trust
Earls Court Youth Club
Equal People Mencap
Finborough Theatre
For Women CIC
Minaret Community Centre
Open Age
Response Community Projects
Solidarity Sports
St Andrew’s Church, Fulham Fields
St Cuthbert's Centre
Urbanwise London
The 2022 cohort meeting at the Community Hub
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2021 Case study Earls Court Family Support Project
The Dadhihiye Somali Development Organisation applied for funding in 2021 to deliver their ‘Earls Court Family Support’ project. The project helps to deliver support, information, and signposting services to BAME residents. Thanks to the funding, they were able to put on activities like coffee mornings, a sewing group, English classes and after-school provision like educational support and cultural visits. Their programme has helped local people, often with language barriers, to have greater access to educational, financial, and heath services.
2021 Case study
London Sports Trust –FBS City Sports Programme
London Sports Trust works directly with young people aged 10–18 living in the Earl’s Court community and prioritises those who are not engaging in extracurricular activities, are displaying behavioural problems or who may be at risk of offending and/or developing physical or mental health issues.
The funding from the Earls Court Community Fund allowed London Sports Trust to offer three weekly sessions for over 150 vulnerable young people in the local area during term-time, in addition to four hours of activities each day of the school holidays.
“The community fund has enabled us to put on a variety of free sports programmes which the community has requested and enjoy and love. Without that funding that wouldn’t be possible.”
Ulick Tarabanov London Sports Trust
“If we don’t get the funding, we cannot support them. That is why we’re able to support. Thanks to the funder... We can’t do this without that money from The Earls Court Development Company.”
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Earls Court Future Programme
We are working in partnership with youth engagement specialists 2– 3 Degrees to deliver the 'Earls Court Future Programme.' The programme has been cocreated with local young people to ensure that their voices are heard on the future of the Earls Court site.
This is an exciting opportunity for young people to creatively share ideas on how their local area develops as part of a programme designed for the benefit of young people and the wider community.
The young people will also have access to our fun and engaging personal development and employability workshops, aimed to empower them whilst providing opportunities to help fulfil their potential and be the best version of themselves.
From 4 August to 8 September, 2– 3 Degrees ran the pilot phase of the programme to an average of 20 young people per session, with ages spanning between 15– 21 years old. There was a great range of guest speakers, including staff from TfL and the Earls Court International Film Festival.
Supporting our local economy
It is more important than ever to support local businesses and help young people to access skills and job opportunities. In troubling economic times, we want to help the community to grow and thrive.
Empress Studios
Working in partnership with This is Projekt, we have converted six derelict Victorian townhouses into 8,500 sq. ft of workspace for creatives and innovators. Opened in May 2022, upwards of 30 new workspaces have been created, providing affordable studio and office space for the local arts and science industries. | Find out more at empress-studios.co.uk
The next round of
place
3
7pm
For more details, please sign up here.
If you have any questions,
Skills Hub
We host the Skills Centre Earls Court on our site, providing an introduction to construction skills. TfL’s Built Environment Schools Outreach Programme also offers construction work experience and resources to local schools. | Find out more at theskillscentre.co.uk
When asked what they enjoyed about the workshops, respondents said:
Some of the ways we have tried to help the local economy are:
"How
active it was and how it made me think outside the box"
"Everything!
The vibes and I enjoyed the speakers talking about their lives"
"How
interactive it was and how it allowed me develop skills like public speaking"
"Meeting
new people from the creative industry and getting the opportunity to ask them questions I'm curious about"
workshops will take
every Thursday 5–
from
November to 1 December. "Networking
isn't
daunting
when
you get into it"
please email Hannah Chapman at hannah@2-3degrees.com
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Lillie Road
We have turned part of Lillie Road into an active high street, providing opportunities for small businesses and charities. The Pop-Up, also on Lillie Road, is a free, temporary pop-up retail space to support and grow new local businesses by offering a pressure-free environment in which to learn how to promote and sell their products.
Underbelly at Earls Court
In 2021, Underbelly created 404 jobs (equivalent to 54 full-time jobs) and contributed £3 million to the local economy. In two years, over 140,000 people visited the festival site. In both 2021 and 2022, the Underbelly Training Academy offered young people from both boroughs a six week training programme offering opportunities for a career in live events.
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Underbelly at Earls Court
Underbelly have had two successful summers at Earls Court, bringing their unique mix of performance, live music, film, and family fun to the site, visited by 140,000 people!
This summer, after a successful spring festival here, the much-loved ‘Udderbelly’ stage headed up to Edinburgh for the Fringe, Underbelly Festival Earls Court transformed into a free public beach and open-air cinema. Accompanied by street food traders, pop-up bars and games for all ages, this was an amazing free resource for local families to use over the summer.
Artist in Residence
We have just launched our Artist in Residence programme. Over the next year, a series of artists will be given a paid three-month residency in a studio at the Community Hub, where they will create portraits of local people and run art classes for the local community.
Each resident artist will receive £3,000 per month and be based part-time in a studio space at the Hub, right in the heart of the Earls Court community. We are looking for artists from anywhere in the UK and who work with a range of mediums and styles.
If you know any artists who would be interested in a residency at Earls Court, get in touch!
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Bringing art back to the site
Stars of Earl's Court by Azarra Amoy
Artist Azarra Amoy transformed part of the site on Warwick Road, opposite Earl’s Court tube station.
The artist’s takeover is made up of a huge 39-metre mural of a series of portraits based on an open call by KCAW to find out who the artistic ‘stars’ working and living in Earl’s Court are, both today and in the past.
The results were surprising. They include visual artists such as Duggie Fields, important groups once frequenting the famous Troubadour music venue such as the Black Panthers and Bob Dylan, but also perhaps less obvious personalities who are nonetheless equally important and have become part of the creative fabric of this area today.
With the help of our steering group, eight names were selected for the installation. Amoy created portraits of these stars in her iconic style, peppering the artwork with objects and themes linked to the area and the personalities themselves.
Colour and creativity
Our amazing living green hoardings brought life and wonder back to Old Brompton Road opposite West Brompton Station. They were designed in a collaboration between the Earls Court Youth Club and The National Portrait Gallery.
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Coming Up!
We are only just getting started, with a huge amount of exciting activities still to come.
In the coming months, we will:
Light the area up
With Christmas lights, a tree, and other festive fun!
Combine theatre, music, food and drink into one stunning experience
By bringing innovative and immersive theatre raconteurs The Lost Estate to the Mannequin Factory.
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THAN
YO
Next steps
In
next
K
U We really appreciate all the engagement we have had so far and are looking forward to presenting the draft masterplan and hearing your feedback. Thank you for taking the time to learn more about what we’ve been doing to bring the wonder back to Earls Court. In the meantime, if you’d like to feed back on anything, or ask any questions, you can: Call us on 0330 33 1510 Email us on info@earlscourtdevco.com Tag us on social media @earlscourtdevco or use the hashtag #ECDCWonder Follow us on social media for the latest information
the
phase, when we share the draft masterplan, we will hold an extensive programme of events: Masterplanning workshops Consultation events Community fun days Pop-ups at stations and local markets Online Commonplace survey Public Realm Inclusivity Panel
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