News
   
Newsletter  2011/12 The Winter 2011/12 Pembridge Association Newsletter is available here for downloading and printing. The other Newsletters from 2001 onwards are available from the Newsletters item on the main menu.
AGM 2011 Click on AGM  for details of AGM held on Wedenesday 23rd February 2011.
Census 2011 On Sunday 27th March 2011, all residential households in the UK are beng legally required to take  part in a census that is held every 10 years to provide information about the population of the country. Click here for further information.
Update
2010		 Imperial College has submitted a revised planning application for their site at the rear of 28-32 Pembridge Gardens fronting on to Pembridge Road. The accommdation has been changed from individual houses providing family accommodation to two flats per house.
Imperial College - Proposed Pembridge Road Development
09/08/2008

Imperial College, who have a students hostel in Pembridge Gardens, are considering the possible redevelopment of their hostel building at the rear which fronts on to Pembridge Road. They recently met with the three Pembridge Ward Councillors to present their outline proposals and indicated that they wished to give wider publicity and seek comments on the proposals from local residents, and in particular the Pembridge Association, before they formally submit a planning application.
Imperial College agreed that they would be happy for the Pembridge Association to put some details of the proposed development on to the Pembridge Association website. Paul Davis Associates, the architects for the Imperial College proposals, have sent the panels shown below. E-mail the PA any comments to chairman@pembridgeassociation.org.uk
 


The Existing Situation
  [Enlarged text from panel above]

Imperial College London would like to develop its site along Pembridge Road to create six or seven family units for letting on the open market.

The College is competing in a world class grouping of Universities including Oxford and Cambridge along with Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the USA. Part of the success of these universities is due to their financial strategy. They have increased their financial independence away from government funding. This has been done by the creation of an Endowment Fund where the income can be ploughed back into the core business of education, teaching and research. Modern science is expensive and funding is becoming more difficult so the independence of the funding source means that the top ranking Universities can continue to be the best.

By creating development opportunities Imperial College is able to strengthen its own endowment fund, create ongoing income and maintain its own science, technology and medicine educational activities across west London.

The Pembridge Road site contains a poor brick built annex which is unsuitable for modern student living. By utilising this site in a different way Imperial intends to create attractive, in-keeping, modest and sustainable town houses. The College would welcome comments from its neighbours on its proposals at this early pre-application stage.

The Mayors office has challenged each of the London boroughs to complete a zero carbon development by 2010 as part of the Energy strategy of the London Plan.

The aim of Imperial College is to seize the opportunity of providing an exemplary sustainable residential development in an urban location and to achieve the highest environmental rating of the Building Research Establishment’s ‘Code for Sustainable Homes’ – as close to zero carbon emission as possible. To do this, an innovative approach has been taken in the design of the replacement buildings for Imperial College’s Pembridge Road annex building.

The parallel challenge is to develop the design for this spatially demanding site and location whilst respecting the context of the setting within the Pembridge Conservation Area.

The scheme comprises six houses and one maisonette with basement parking for 8 cars. Architects, Paul Davis + Partners, have drawn from the traditional 19th Century domestic architecture of the area to re-interpret the form of the terrace house in a contemporary and radical way. The key drivers for the design however remain rooted in the appealing and successful urban form to be found in the Pembridge neighbourhood in terms of scale and proportion, rhythm, the use of sympathetic materials, and the way in which the street is addressed.

The house plans are single aspect with all the living rooms at the front and the stairs and utility spaces to the rear. The front façade is sealed and insulated to defend the habitable rooms from the dirt and noise generated by Pembridge Road. It also contains air ducts to distribute cool air from the labyrinth system beneath the buildings. The staircases perform as vertical ‘stacks’ which draw the cool air passively through the living spaces to vent at high level.

The geometry of the roof is generated to maximise the area of South facing surface at an optimum pitch of 27 degrees for supporting photo-voltaic and solar panels.

The single aspect arrangement of the new buildings establishes a line of privacy between the rear façade of the Pembridge Gardens Halls of Residence. The garden lying between is to be replanted and extended vertically on the rear elevation of the new buildings forming a ‘green wall’. The green wall compliments the sustainable brief by contributing passively to the insulation and cladding of the structure and promoting bio-diversity in an urban location. It will also be very attractive.

While the sustainable brief has generated form, the local context has influenced scale, materials and detail – the two drivers are linked and complementary.

The final design of the facade and the selection of materials, is not fully developed at this stage. The perspective view and the street elevation shown on these illustrations suggests form and massing, but are not yet specific about the materials and finishes. These will be driven by the sustainability brief, but will also be natural materials sympathetic with context, even if they do not mimic it.
 
 


Ground Floor/Site Plan
 


Pembridge Road Elevations
 


Typical Cross Section of Buildings
 


The "Green" Approach
 


Sketches above showing proposals for the Pembridge Road frontage and the rear elevation

   
25-26 Pembridge Square, W2
11/07/2007		 The Pembridge Association was given the opportunity to see around the existing Hyde Park Hotel, and to see the proposals by the new owner to convert it into a single family residence, prior to the submission of a formal planning application. A planning application has now been submitted to change the hotel use to residential use, to build a car stacker and to excavate a 4-storey basement to contain a swimming pool. For larger view see Recent Planning Applications
 

Drawing of existing building

Photomontage - as proposed

Drawing of new building
Garden Party 2007 The Pembridge Association will be holding its annual garden party in Pembridge Square on 21st July 2007 from 6-8pm.
See Invitation. Cost £7 per person including food and glass of wine [Children 5-16 £3 each]
 
10 Chepstow Place, W2
11/07/2007		 The planning application to demolish (the lower height building in the photo 2nd from the left below) and rebuild this property in a contemporary style (below right) has now been submitted to the Council and this photographic/montage shows show more clearly than is possible on the submitted 2-dimensional drawings how it will relate to the existing buildings in the terrace. This is an important application and is being looked at closely by the Pembridge Association in the context of its effect on the conservation area and the Pembridge Conservation Area Policy Statement (CAPS). For larger view see Recent Planning Applications

Chepstow Place from the south,
front elevation
and Chepstow Place from the north



The proposed front elevation as submitted together with a photomontage requested by the Council to illustrate the proposed new building
33 Chepstow Villas, W11
19/02/2007		 A planning application was submitted to the Council to add an additional storey to this property at the junction of Chepstow Villas and Portobello Road (the property on the right in the right hand picture below) . A previous application for an additional floor in 1978 was refused. The Association wrote to the Council, with the support of the Kensington Society, to object to this application as it was felt that, if approved, it would destroy the fairly unique character of the terrace from 25 - 33 Chepstow Villas. The Council refused the application and it is now the subject of an appeal against this decision.
 

View of terrace from the east


No 33 is the first house on the right
The new Cattle Trough
23/06/2007
The new cattle trough, manufactured and delivered from China, was erected on Turquoise Island in Westbourne Grove in February 2007 with the help of the Council. It will be planted and maintained by "Wild at Heart".
John Scott, who organised this project and raised the funding for it, is pointing to the wording on the side of the cattle trough - "Be kind and merciful to all animals"
 

Website
23/06/2007		 The Pembridge Association website is now accessible from a new URL: www.pembridgeassociation.org in addition to  the original URL www.pembridgeassociation.org.uk
AGM 2007 The Pembridge Association AGM was held at 8pm on Wednesday 21st February 2007 in the main hall of the New Church, 5 Pembridge Villas, W11. It was attended by 41 Members.
The Guest Speaker will be Robin Price, Chairman of the Kensington Society. See Newsletter2007
Drinking Fountain
John Scott has been discussing with the Council, the Cattle Trough & Drinking Fountain Association and others the restoration of the drinking fountain at the NW corner of Turquoise Island in Westbourne Grove.
This is estimated to cost about £12,400 + VAT which will include its connection to a safe water supply.
The present proposal is to see if it is possible to get agreement to share the cost between John Scott and the Cattle Trough & Drinking Fountain Association with the Council undertaking the ground work, connection of the water supply and the annual maintenance.

Cattle Trough
John Scott has also been discussing with the Council, the Cattle Trough & Drinking Fountain Association and others the provision of a typical traditional cattle trough on the Turquoise Island in Westbourne Grove to be filled with planting.
The proposal is to have this manufactured and supplied from China and it is estimated that this would cost about £3,000.
It is thought that the cattle trough (see right) situated outside Julie's Restaurant at Clarendon Cross was originally on the island in Westbourne Grove prior to its current development.

Pembridge Square Garden Railings
29/10/2006		 One of the main planning applications in 2006 of specific interest to the Pembridge Association is the proposed replacement of the railings around the Square that were removed during the 2nd World War; see Pembridge Square Garden Planning Application
Garden Party 15/07/2006 The Pembridge Association Annual Garden Party in Pembridge Square Garden was held on Saturday 15th July 2006 from 6:00pm - 8:00 pm; the Guest of Honour was the Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Councillor Tim Ahern. About 100 Members and their guests were present.
The raffle raised nearly £300 towards the running costs of the Association as a result of prizes very kindly donated by local businesses: Mr Christian's, Fresh & Wild, Tylers Homecare, Wall, Lanna, Chalmers & Gray, Carluccio's, Baywoods Chemists and the Tea Palace.
30 Ledbury Road W11
20/10/2005		 The Association wrote to the Planning Inspectorate to support the Council's refusal of permission to use the first floor of the more recently refurbished shop premises for retail display purposes as it is felt that this use at first floor level is inappropriate in Ledbury Road which is primarily a residential street with commercial use at ground floor level and residential above that. The previous change of use that proposed this was refused by the Council and the Inspector who took the appeal against this refusal supported the Council's refusal.
Garden Party:
16/07/2005		 The Pembridge Association held its annual Garden Party in Pembridge Square Garden on Saturday 16th July 2005 from 6pm to 8pm.
30 Ledbury Road: A speculative planning application has been submitted to the Council to erect a glass clad modern 2-storey and basement retail shop to replace the existing 2-storey office building. This is being strongly opposed by some local residents who feel that this would not be consistent with the character of Ledbury Road and of the Pembridge Conservation Area.
Chepstow Place
Decision
 17/02/2004		 The Council's Planning Services Committee refused the Chepstow Place planning application primarily on the basis that it contravened the Council Policies in the Unitary Development Plan, against the addition of the mansard roof but also for the reason that the committee was advised that even with a Section 106 Agreement there could be no certainty that all the applicants would be prepared to build the extra floor at the same time in order to provide a consistent roof line. NB This scheme is now the subject of a planning appeal (2004).
Chepstow Place
Proposals
 23/10/2003		 The Pembridge Association Executive Committee gave further consideration to the scheme at its meeting held on 23rd October 203 when revised drawings were available. The photomontage on the right below (supplied by the architect) now shows that the modified additional mansard storey will hardly be visible from the street frontage; the Council's Planning Officers had suggested that the party walls be taken up to more truly represent the way that these extensions would have been handled from a historic point of view.
The Executive Committee also noted the revisions to the rear elevations where the open terrace had been replaced by a mansard with dormer windows behind the parapet such that the amount of overlooking of properties in Pembridge Place would be considerably reduced. The drawings of the revised scheme are being notified to local residents who will have a chance to comment to the Council before the planning application is considered by the Planning Services Committee in late November. It was also considered that there should be required planning gain with balustraded front garden walls and replacement trees to further enhance the street frontage. The Pembridge Association has now sent its formal comments to the Planning Department on the revised application
See ChepstowPlaceComments.
Planning Application
22/09/2003		 Planning Application Ref:  PP/03/01984 was submitted to the Council under the summary description: "Restoration and repairs to front facade and erection of additional mansard floor to all five properties (i.e. Nos. 36, 38, 40, 42 and 44 Chepstow Place)."
Chepstow Place
Proposals
 03/09/2003		 The Pembridge Association was consulted about a proposal, subsequently submitted to the Council as a planning application by Alan Power Architects, to produce a co-ordinated scheme for the terrace covering Nos. 36-44 Chepstow Place.
At its Executive Committee Meeting, held on 3rd September 2003, the Pembridge Association gave consideration to the Design Statement provided by the architect and took the decision to welcome and give whole-hearted support specifically to the proposal to enhance the street elevation of this terrace in the Pembridge Conservation Area. While its own Conservation Area Policy Statement does not support additional storeys in this street, it was felt that this particular scheme illustrated that harm would not be caused to the street elevation and the roofscape would actually be improved; the east side of Chepstow Place opposite, within the City of Westminster, already has mansard additions and the extra storeys on Nos. 36-44 would effectively balance this.
 

  The first photo shows the terrace as it currently exists with missing cornice details at roof level and pollarded lime trees at street level.
  The second photo above shows the proposal which upgrades the terrace at roof level to restore the cornice, with all its dentils, together with a balustraded parapet copying what already exists at No 46 Chepstow Place. This would enable additional mansard storeys to be added that would hardly be visible from street level. In addition to this the windows will be altered to the common pattern throughout.
  It is understood that all the property owners in this terrace have agreed to co-operate with this proposal although not all of them would necessarily undertake the additions of mansard storeys in the immediate future but have agreed to carry out the cornice and balustrade work as a co-ordinated scheme at the same time to start off the co-ordination process.
  There is always pressure for providing additional accommodation for expanding families and this would appear to offer a solution to this situation while at the same time providing a considerable enhancement to this terrace in the Pembridge Conservation Area.
  In addition to the work to the buildings it is proposed to apply to the Council to remove all the lime trees and to replace them with a more appropriate species that will enhance the streetscape.
  The Pembridge Association has only made its comments in the context of the enhancement to the street elevation in Chepstow Place; it has not commented on the proposals as they may affect adjacent properties nor the effect that the additional mansard storey may have on daylight and overlooking at the rear relative to the properties in Pembridge Place..
  Link to Extract from Architect's Design Statement
 2 Pembridge Place: A planning application has been submitted to the Council to demolish No 2 Pembridge Place and to replace it with a replica 4-storey single family dwelling like that at No 1 Pembridge Place.
50 Chepstow Villas: A planning appeal has been made against the Council's decision to refuse permission for the basement of this residential property, on the corner with Portobello Road, to be used for providing market stalls.
Garden Party:
17/07/2004		 The Pembridge Association held its annual Garden Party in Pembridge Square Garden on Saturday 17th July 2004 which was attended by 90 people including the members of the Executive Committee.
  The planning application was refused by the Council on the basis that the Pembridge Conservation Area Policy Statement shows this terrace as one where additional storeys would not be permitted. The applicants have subsequently submitted an appeal against this decision.
Chepstow Place:
07/11/2003		 The Pembridge Association has now sent its formal comments to the Planning Department on the revised application.
See ChepstowPlaceComments.
Chepstow Place:
22/09/2003		 Planning Application Ref:  PP/03/01984 covering 36-44 (even) Chepstow Place, W2 was submitted to the Council under the summary description: "Restoration and repairs to front facade and erection of additional mansard floor to all five properties (i.e. Nos. 36, 38, 40, 42 and 44 Chepstow Place)."
Chepstow Place:
04/09/2003		 The Executive Committee was presented with the proposals by Alan Power Architects for the enhancement of the terrace at 36-44 Chepstow Place, which has the support of all the property owners, and will be the subject of a formal planning application to the Council very shortly. The Committee expressed its support for this proposal in the context of the upgrading of the Chepstow Place elevation as this will provide a significant enhancement to this part of the Conservation Area. The Committee did not make any comments on other aspects of the application which may affect adjacent and neighbouring properties.
Garden Party:
03/09/2003		 There was no Annual Garden Party held in 2003 due to the refusal of the Pembridge Square Gardens Subcommittee to give permission for it.
Millenium Project:
04/08/2003		 The Council of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea granted planning permission to the Pembridge Association for its Millennium Project for the enhancement of the terrace along the North side of Westbourne Grove between Colville Road and Ledbury Road.
Officers:
28/02/2003		 The Officers of the Association elected at the AGM for 2003/2004 were:
Chairman: Cllr David Campion
Hon Treasurer: Bruno Giorgi
Hon Sec Planning: Roy Griffiths
Hon Sec Membership: Sally Heilbut
[Subsequently Sally Heilbut gave up the Membership Secretary role and this was taken over by Sally Dixon-Brown].
AGM:
27/02/2003		 The 2003 Annual General Meeting was held at The New Church, 5 Pembridge Villas, W2 on Wednesday 27th February at 8 pm. The guest speaker was the Vice-Chairman of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Planning Services Committee, Cllr Tony Holt..
Traffic:
27/02/2002		 The new roundabouts in Chepstow Villas, at the junctions with Pembridge Crescent and Chepstow Crescent, have made these junctions safer. Their design fits in well with the environment of a conservation area.
Web Site:
02/04/2000		 The Pembridge Association Web Site was created by David Campion in April 2000.
This page of the web site is used for current news to supplement that covered in the latest Newsletter.
İThe Pembridge Association 2004
Last Revised:08/01/2012