The Masterplan
OUR Plans
Our approved plans for One Portal Way will create a new green heart for North Acton to meet the needs of existing and future communities. It will knit together other local developments to create a vibrant hub with something for everyone.
By way of reminder, our plans for One Portal Way will include:
A new green heart for North Acton, delivering new public space including a new landscaped garden, trees, flowerbeds and lawns for the community
New jobs, workspace and innovation with co-working, maker and flexible spaces supporting West London’s tech cluster
New public spaces and uses including green spaces, retail and leisure units, and a potential healthcare centre
New homes for North Acton with student housing, discounted affordable homes and private homes for rent and sale
A New GREEN HEART FOR NORTH ACTON
● The site at present is inaccessible to the public, surrounded by busy roads, and provides a poor experience for passers-by. We want to change this, by creating new public areas and green open space.
● With the arrival of the Elizabeth Line and improvements to North Acton station, the area needs a central public space to bring the community together. A ‘green heart’ at One Portal Way will provide this.
● We are bringing forward a new landscaped square at the centre of our site. This green heart will be a garden with large trees, flowerbeds and lawns, and cater to a range of needs and activities.
● The green heart will also serve as a civic area, providing a space for the community to come together, as well as establishing clear routes to local transport hubs for visitors to the area.
● In 2023, consultation on our outline application showed that over 85% of people who answered our digital survey supported the creation and provision of this central space.
Bringing new jobs, workspace and innovation
● The scheme will help support West London’s growing tech and innovation cluster, taking advantage of the Elizabeth Line to provide a mix of co-working, maker, and flexible workspace.
● The proposed workspaces will be delivered across a number of buildings on site and could support between 1,200 and 2,000 new jobs locally.
● Imperial College London was named the UK’s most innovative university by Reuters because of its exceptional entrepreneurial culture and ties to industry.
● As a committed long-term local stakeholder, Imperial will look to leverage its local business network to attract and nurture creative and booming businesses locally.
● As such, a great emphasis is placed on providing affordable flexible employment space for start-ups and SMEs, alongside the provision of an Imperial-backed co-working space, responding to the fast evolving working environment. This will be brought forward in phase one of the scheme, utilising Imperial’s experience of delivering and operating similar spaces in West London.
A mix of uses
● Feedback gathered back in 2023 demonstrated that local people would like a greater mix of shops, markets and restaurants to choose from.
● Our final plans were therefore designed to provide a wide range of uses and facilities at One Portal Way. This could include new shops and a supermarket, food market, pop-up exhibitions, community events, cafes, restaurants, healthcare centre, leisure, and children’s play space.
Providing modern, fit-for purpose housing and accommodation for North Acton
● Our approved plans meet a variety of housing needs including 1,325 new homes for ownership and rent, alongside 384 studios for student or co-living use.
● We will aim to deliver 35% of the homes as affordable, delivering a mix of London Living Rent, London Affordable Rent, Discounted Market Rent and Intermediate housing.
● We are shortly looking to update the proposals for two buildings, called buildings E and F, to increase the quantum of student accommodation on site to circa 1,925 beds by replanning the buildings, including converting 413 Build to Rent homes to student accommodation. By expanding our purpose-built student accommodation offer at One Portal Way, we can directly help to address the need for student accommodation in a well-connected location, contribute to the creation of a vibrant, mixed-use community at the heart of North Acton and free up homes in the wider private rental market for local workers and families. See more here.
● The incorporation of a mix of uses in the masterplan, including student accommodation, has been thoughtfully considered to encourage students to actively partake in and contribute to the local community and economy.
Illustrative view LOOKING SOUTH DOWN PORTAL WAY, ACROSS THE A4000
HEIGHT AND MASSING
● We have planning permission for seven new buildings on the site, which vary in height. The three tallest buildings on each corner of the site will be 55, 50 and 50 storeys. No taller than the neighbouring buildings in North Acton – approved and under construction – the tallest of which is 57 storeys.
● These proposals will help us deliver the new homes that Ealing and the OPDC area need, and are in keeping with the development context of North Acton.
● Our massing approach has been closely considered in order to minimise the visual impact on the surrounding area, and the three tall buildings are placed at the corners of the site, where their impact on neighbouring homes will be the smallest.
● We are committed to delivering on our vision set out in the 2023 outline permission, and so our Section 73 application contains very limited design changes with no increase in height. See more here.
The heights of the proposed buildings in the context of other schemes in North Acton that are under construction or have been granted planning consent
Transport and access
● The site is located very close to the Crossrail station at Acton Main Line Station and HS2 station at Old Oak and therefore benefits from good public transport links, with a PTAL rating of 4/5.
● Our plans prioritise cycling and walking, including – where possible – improvements to the roads around the site to make crossing safer. This approach is in line with London-wide policy and Ealing Council’s support for car-free developments such as this.
● The plans include 115 car parking spaces for disabled residents, retail, operations and car club. This number is significantly smaller than the existing number of spaces on the site and the number of spaces in the previous planning consent.
● Our plans include a raised table on the junction of the A4000 and Portal Way, thus making drivers more aware of pedestrian crossing and reducing traffic speed.
● On Portal Way itself, we will create a shared surface, in collaboration with all the adjacent landowners. This will transform Portal Way from a car dominated service road, to a pedestrian-first street.
● Our plans also include a dedicated off-street service area which will accommodate 5 loading bays for the entire development. The vehicle access will be at the southern end of the site onto Portal Way.
Sustainability
● An important part of creating a new green heart for North Acton is ensuring that One Portal Way has high ambitions for sustainability.
● We will achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating for all non-residential buildings.
● The latest technologies and measures will be used to reduce carbon emissions and save energy, including solar panels, an electricity-only energy supply, air-source heat pumps, and water-saving features.
● Sustainability is also informing our strategy for material selection, and our proposals will:
o Use recycled materials and ensure they are, in turn, recyclable
o Use local materials to reduce transportation needs
o Select durable and resilient materials
● Health and wellbeing are at the heart of our designs and we will strive to meet or surpass industry standards with regards to sustainability and clean energy.
Phasing
● We have secured a hybrid planning application for the site, which grants outline consent for the masterplan at One Portal Way and detailed permission for Phase 1 of the proposed development (see image on the right).
● We are keen to build a community and provide a new green heart for North Acton at One Portal Way, which is why we are looking to deliver a large part of our community benefits in the first phase of development.
● As the scheme will be delivered over a long period of time, we have the opportunity to create some uses and activities on a temporary basis while parts of the site await development. You can find out more about our plans for a new science and tech hub here.
