Haymarket Publishing, Hammersmith

Beacon was appointed by Haymarket Properties in early 2011 to work with the tp bennett led design team on the redevelopment of two sites in a conservation area in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.

The two sites are currently in office use by Haymarket Publishing and both lie within the Brook Green Conservation Area near to listed buildings and other historic buildings. Beacon produced Heritage Statements and provided heritage design advice to support the planning and conservation area consent applications that were submitted in September 2011.

The Bute/Wolverton Gardens site was formerly the Kennedy Institute for Rheumatology and was the first research institute in the world dedicated wholly to the search for the causes and cures of rheumatic diseases. Designed by Alan Stubbs & Partners, the building was opened in 1966 in the presence of the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester. However, the Institute vacated the site in 1997 and it has been used as office accommodation since.

The former Kennedy Institute building and a modern office block are proposed for demolition to be replaced by a two residential apartment blocks. Different architectural approaches have been taken to the two buildings on the site to reflect the characteristics of the site's two frontages.

The other Haymarket site is King's House on Hammersmith Road. This 1960s office building stands on the site of the King's Theatre which was opened in 1902 (demolished in 1963) and was designed by WGR Sprague (1863-1933). Sprague designed a large number of theatres and music halls, almost exclusively in London, including the Aldwych Theatre.

The 1960s King's House is to be demolished and replaced with a similarly scaled modern office block which seeks to respect both the vast scale of the adjoining Latymer Court (in 1934 the largest single block of flats in Europe) and the modest scale of the nearby traditional buildings.

Determination of both pairs of planning and conservation area consent applications is awaited by the end of the year (2011).