Imperial’s vision for White City has reached a new milestone as the revised masterplan for the north of the site gets the green light.

The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF) has approved the College’s amendments to the White City Campus North masterplan, which were the result of a year-long public consultation with key stakeholders, including local residents and businesses.

This is a really exciting milestone in our long term vision for White City Professor Neil Alford Associate Provost (Academic Planning)

The changes will allow Imperial to provide the kind of flexible facilities required by its world-leading researchers, innovators and commercial partners, while progressing its commitment to the local community and improving the campus’ public spaces.

With three buildings already open on the north part of the Campus and two more under construction, the final two plots, which form an important gateway into the White City Campus from Wood Lane, were unanimously approved by the LBHF planning committee.  

This will enable the remaining two plots to be brought forward for development to form part of the innovation ecosystem at Imperial’s White City Campus.

Fit for the future

One of these plots is set to be occupied by Imperial’s new School of Public Health, a state-of-the-art hub for health and wellbeing research, education and community engagement.

Earlier this year, Imperial launched a £100m fundraising campaign to support the development of the new School of Public Health, which will pioneer new approaches to society’s most pressing healthcare challenges across four key areas: World Health, Food and Nutrition, Community Health and Policy, and Children’s Health and Wellbeing.   

The planning approvals mean that these facilities will benefit from increased height and floor space, helping to provide a flexible, collaborative and interactive environment for the College’s world-leading academics.

An academic design team from Imperial is now working with architects Allies and Morison to oversee the design plans for the new building.  

What will be built on the final plot is still under consideration, but the detailed application ensures that the College can respond flexibly depending on future needs.

Professor Neil Alford, Associate Provost (Academic Planning) at Imperial College London, said: “This is a really exciting milestone in our long term vision for White City. We want our campus to offer the types of flexible facilities required by our world-leading researchers and commercial partners, whilst providing a welcoming place that complements the local area and offers new opportunities to engage with the local community. We are looking forward to realising our plans at White City and continuing to work closely with academic, industrial and local partners.” 

Community commitment

The College’s vision is to work in partnership with the local community at White City to bring cutting-edge research expertise and evidence-based solutions to the public health challenges that affect the local community most profoundly, and to apply this learning to shape the future of public health across the globe.

Professor Deborah Ashby, Director of the School of Public Health, said: “Our new School of Public Health at White City will be an outstanding hub for research, education and community engagement. I believe that we will be in a very strong position to improve health on both a local and global scale by strengthening the public health science base, training the next generation of public health leaders, and influencing health policies and programmes around the world.”

Innovation hotspot

Across the White City Campus north site, Imperial’s world-class researchers and partners from industry are already helping to tackle major global challenges by sharing ideas and turning cutting-edge research into benefits for society. 

Having opened its doors in 2016, the Translation and Innovation Hub (I-HUB) provides a space for corporate partners, fast-growth and start-up companies to work side-by-side.

The Molecular Sciences Research Hub (MSRH) opened earlier this year - providing a new research home for Imperial's Department of Chemistry - whilst The Michael Uren Biomedical Engineering Research Hub is currently under construction and is due to be practically completed in 2019.   

Alongside this space for multidisciplinary research, the north part of the Campus also houses accommodation for postgraduate students and a residential building to provide affordable accommodation for Imperial’s staff and key workers.