![]() ![]() Fast forward to December 2018 though, and these 145 acres of White City will constitute west London’s biggest and brightest new district. But what about the surrounding neighbourhood? Currently the upper-level apartments offer what estate agents call "good night views", which means that after dark you don’t have to look at the sprawl of low-rise 1950s housing, railway tracks and Westfield shopping centre. Lots of developments are also overly generic, but the transformation of Television Centre is relevant to its location." "The urban fabric needs variety, as long as it does not become a hodgepodge of styles and an architectural clash. "For a scheme to work, it needs to evolve organically," he says. And if all that choice sounds too exhausting, you can always ask one of the architects to select everything for you, right down to the furniture. In every space, the kitchens – by Italian company Molteni&C – are modular and have bar counters that can be moved around, while the show apartment evokes a mid-century modern aesthetic with furniture from the likes of British retailer Another Country. In addition to sweeping terraces (in some cases up to 50sq m), floor-to-ceiling glazing and large open-plan living areas, all the penthouses come with a choice of bespoke detailing in brick, bronze and brass. "We only have one like it as we know only a handful of buyers would be in a position to buy." "It’s expensively done, and very particular," explains Shaw. The most luxurious penthouse, designed by Archer Humphryes, whose eccentric and maximalist style graces the Chiltern Firehouse, will be 3,200sq ft and has a poured resin floor and a gallery for the art collection that the architects assume the buyers possess. "When they go round to borrow a cup of sugar, they should be taken by surprise." (One assumes he is referring only to the design.)įinishes are predominantly stone and timber, with neutral walls and – in the duplexes and penthouses – poured concrete floors. "Homeowners like nothing less than knowing that their neighbour’s house has exactly the same layout as theirs," says Alistair Shaw, managing director of Television Centre. "Instead we have selected four award-winning architects, all of whom have an expertise in interiors."Įach penthouse has been designed not to look remotely similar to the one next door. "Most new developments use a small number of well-known interior designers, all of whom are quite similar in style," explains AHMM director Paul Monaghan. The four penthouses, which measure between 2,700 and 4,000 sq ft, and cost from £5-£7m, are due to go on sale in the summer. This month the first 483 homes, which start at £650,000 for a one-bedroom flat, will go on sale. In their place will be nearly 1,000 new homes, offices, a Soho House hotel and members’ club, Cecconi’s restaurant, a fitness centre and artisanal shops and cafés. Gone are the 121 dressing rooms, the Blue Peter Garden, the set-making factory and five of the studios. Since March 2013, when the BBC relocated to Salford, property developers Stanhope and Mitsui Fudosan UK have been transforming the 14-acre campus. They’re at Television Centre, the BBC’s former HQ, that doughnut of a building that from 1960 to 2013 saw Doctor Who, Bruce Forsyth and even the Queen (once a year, to check the edit of her Christmas Day speech) pass through its doors. Historic building of architectural merit? Tick. Next month, in west London’s White City, however, four bona fide penthouses are going on sale. ![]() Preferably high up and, ideally, with a view. Is it a vast, light-filled loft with a wraparound balcony and sweeping vistas of the Thames, or an overpriced shoebox overlooking a stack of noisy air-con units off Dalston Lane? Londoners, constantly baffled by the real-estate goldmine under their feet, and worn out by estate-agent speak, have downgraded their expectations, so that all "penthouse" really means is a place to live on top of a building.
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