The Global Banking School has signed for nearly 70,000 sq ft in Two Greenford Square, the former GlaxoSmithKline building in Greenford.

The school will take 68,759 sq ft  in the Brydell Partners owned building, which is next to Greystar’s 1965 home Greenford Quay development and Ferroro’s UK headquarters. It will occupy the Atrium and East Wing of the building, leaving the 30,000 West Wing to be let.

Amazon has opened its first UK Amazon Fresh grocery store in the Ealing Broadway shopping centre.

The 2,500 sq ft grocery store concept is Amazon’s first outside of North America and is designed to offer a “convenient and seamless shopping experience for customers”. It offers a till-free shopping experience – customers scan a smartphone app when entering and are charged automatically for what they carry with them as the exit the store. The store stocks own-brand items as well as branded products, and also serves as a place to collect and return goods bought online. The technology has been working at the firm’s similar Amazon Go stores in the States, which opened to the public in 2018.

British Land’s 400,000sq ft centre at Ealing Broadway also contains Primark, Marks & Spencer, JD Sports, Decathlon, H&M and Boots, as well as 130,000 sq ft of office space, home Carallon, Insights Software and British Land’s flexible workspace brand, Storey.

Darren Richards, Head of Real Estate at British Land, said: “We are thrilled to welcome the UK’s first Amazon Fresh store to Ealing Broadway. Ealing already benefits from fantastic transport infrastructure and is set to undergo significant transformation with the opening of Crossrail and £1 billion of wider investment that will continue to enhance its appeal.”

Ealing’s green homes will give residents a healthier, more sustainable and cost-effective home for the future. That was one of the key messages from Ealing In London and Greystar’s webinar chaired by Pat Brown, the Director of the Centre for London, with Hill and HTA at last month’s Real Estate Live week.

Jo Mortensen, Ealing Council’s Climate Action programme manager introduced Ealing’s pioneering economic recovery strategy, ‘Greenprint’, which lays the foundations on what a future economic growth strategy might look and feel like for the borough. In January 2021, Ealing Council adopted its Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy (CEES) with the goal of being carbon neutral by 2030.

Jo explained how, having led the West London boroughs’ bid to secure a £4.8million Green Homes Grant from government, the borough is now looking to implement retrofit programmes, deliver green infrastructure and low/zero carbon buildings and invest in active travel. Jo pointed out that retrofitting will also help create new employment opportunities for the west London economy.

“Homes represent 40% of carbon emissions in the borough right now …so more sustainable homes can help mitigate climate change and improve residents’ health by retrofitting them to a high standard,” she said.

Philip Browne, Housing development director and of Ealing Council’s wholly owned housing company Broadway Living, introduced BL’s interim development guide which has a focus on Passivhaus standards and the key themes of sustainability, healthy and affordable homes. Philip said, “In delivering our (housing) programme we want to focus on meeting as many of these key themes as possible”. You can view the BL development guide by clicking here.

Paul Fanning, Greystar development director, which is developing Greenford Quay discussed the flexible, sustainable and green elements of the development. Paul explained that the site has 26,000 acres of landscaped areas, and an energy centre and a heating system below the central square which has been landscaped over – helping to maximise land use. Commenting on Greenford Quay’s off -site modular construction, Paul said it had allowed, “less traffic and less workers on site helping to reduce social contact and reducing C02 emissions. We’ve worked out the building of Tillermans Court has helped save 26,000 tonnes of CO2 over the building’s life time, equivalent to planning 200,000 trees.”

To listen to the full webinar please click here.

The panel were also joined by:

• Emma Fletcher, Director, Hill
• Richard Foley, Director, HTA Design

Grade II listed Hanwell station will be removed from the Heritage at Risk Register by Historic England following extensive renovation work by Transport for London.

The nineteenth-century station, which will be served by the Elizabeth line, has been upgraded to meet modern standards while retaining its historic character. The station is now more customer friendly with improved accessibility and customer information, and new spacious facilities.

The original station buildings have been repaired, re-painted and restored to the traditional Great Western Railway cream and golden brown colour scheme. Historic signs on the platforms have also been restored, and on the staircases, timber handrails and cast-iron balustrades have been given a new lease of life with lighting upgraded to LEDs fitted in the traditional hanging lanterns. A derelict building has been turned into a new, spacious waiting room with beautiful period features, while an original waiting room has been refurbished to match.

Hanwell Station was originally opened by the Great Western Railway in 1838, although the buildings on site today date from a station rebuild in 1877. The station was Grade II listed in 1972 but was already falling into a poor state of repair at that point. Despite having had some work done in 2000, deteriorated signage and peeling paint on platform canopies and buildings showed that the station was in need of a lot of work when TfL and its operator MTR Elizabeth line took over the management of the station in 2017.

In 2020, London Borough of Ealing pedestrianised the area outside of the station to create a paved forecourt, improving access to the station for those walking and cycling. Both Ealing and Historic England provided advice and added expertise on the station conservation project.

Following the completion of the improvement works, Historic England and London Borough of Ealing have agreed Hanwell can be removed from the Heritage at Risk Register, and the change will be reflected in the new register, which is due to be published in October.

Peter Herridge, TfL’s Station Enhancement Manager, said: “Our team, including colleagues from our operator MTR Elizabeth line, has worked closely with the Railway Heritage Trust, the London Borough of Ealing and Network Rail to carry out these improvements while preserving the rich heritage of this 19th century station. Our friends at Didcot Railway Centre also provided some invaluable guidance and inspiration to help us with the finishing touches.

“It was a real collaborative effort and delivered not only step-free access, but vital new facilities that customers will benefit from for years to come. Working with the local borough’s conservation officers in Ealing, we were able to get consent to undertake this restoration. Getting to the stage of the station being removed from Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register shows that this work was well worth the effort.”

Emily Gee, Regional Director for Historic England in London and the South East, said: “Hanwell has been given a new lease of life thanks to the careful restoration and improvement works by TfL over the last few years. The Victorian character of the station really shines through and we hope all users appreciate the new spaces and intricate details now revealed for many years to come.”

Julian Bell, leader of Ealing Council, said: “Preserving Ealing’s outstanding heritage has always been a priority for us and I am delighted to have been able to work alongside our partners TfL to ensure the historic features of Hanwell station are protected long into the future.

“Not only has the renovation eliminated any risk of losing this valuable local heritage, the station has also been upgraded and modernised with new lifts, waiting room, toilets and a refurbished platform. Working with TfL, we have also completed work to improve access to the station for those walking and cycling by creating a paved forecourt.

“We will continue to work with TfL to improve transport options for local commuters, improve access and reduce journey times wherever possible.”

These upgrades have been part of a wider programme of accessibility improvements across the TfL Rail network in preparation for the Elizabeth line, which will bring an extra 1.5 million people to within 45 minutes of central London. As well as opening up more of the transport network for those with accessibility needs, the transformational railway will reduce journey times, create additional capacity and protect social distancing.

Hanwell has also benefitted from a doubling in service frequency, moving from two to four trains per hour in either direction and shorter, old trains have been replaced with longer, modern, more spacious Elizabeth line trains providing a significant increase in capacity.