FAQs

Whilst the tenant has announced their decision to relocate to smaller flexible offices elsewhere, we are committed to working with the tenant to help secure a meanwhile occupier to provide jobs and growth for the area and the Borough.

Yes, the previous owners of the site obtained planning permission in 2016 for their proposals for 764 homes as well as ground floor retail and amenities. The scheme comprised eight buildings of up to 32 storeys. However, we believe that more can be done to deliver benefits for North Acton including much more generous high quality open space improvements to the surrounding public realm, more homes (including for rent and affordable), new jobs and a mix of uses that better serve the community.

While the existing consent creates a helpful context, the area has changed a lot in the last five years. We believe that the new development proposals would better reflect the current and future needs of local communities and would improve the relationship with neighbouring developments. As above, the new designs include much more generous high quality open space, improvements to the public realm more homes (including for rent and affordable), new jobs and a mix of uses that better serve the community.

With excellent public transport connections, the site could attract businesses, jobs and investment, especially since market trends are increasingly showing a growing demand for flexible, high quality office space. The proposals also have the potential to support West London’s growing tech and innovation cluster, which Imperial is at the heart of with its innovation district in White City. The scheme could provide new and affordable places for the capital’s current and future innovators to live, work and play.

As part of our planning application, we have submitted a full evaluation of local transport and infrastructure. The site is located very close to North Acton Station (Central Line) and Acton Main Line Station (Elizabeth Line). The site will also be served by a HS2 station at Old Oak once completed. The proposals include a number of disabled parking spaces. The significant reduction in parking spaces compared to the existing provision on the site will encourage the use of public transport and green modes of travelling, wherever possible.

Our plans will prioritise cycling and walking, including – where possible – improvements to the roads around the site to make journeys by active travel safer. The proposed plans will include 45 car parking spaces for disabled residents and car club. This number is significantly smaller than the existing number of spaces on the site and the number of spaces in the existing planning consent.

The planning authorities promote car-free developments in locations such as this and this is a trend we are seeing more of throughout London as well. Under planning conditions this means that new residents would not be able to apply for a parking permit and would therefore be fined if they parked on neighbouring roads. The site also benefits from excellent public transport links, with a PTAL rating of 5. Therefore, we expect a lot of our future residents to be using public transport to get around.

The housing crisis in London, and across the country, is well documented: the lack of sufficient numbers of new homes results in high house prices and rents. As a result, the London Plan sets a target of over half a million new homes to be built over 10 years, of which 20,000 are to be built in Ealing and close to 14,000 within the OPDC. One Portal Way can play a small but important part towards meeting those goals.

We have recently made some amendments to the proposals. The amended plans submitted in April 2023 allow for either co-living or student accommodation in one of the buildings (building F). This is in response to Imperial’s growing requirement for high-quality purpose-built student accommodation to support those studying at the university.

We are proposing 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.