Imperial launches new gateway to White City Deep Tech Campus

President Hugh Brady and Councillor Stephen Cowan launch a new connection between White City’s Wood Lane and Imperial’s campus.

Imperial’s President Hugh Brady and Councillor Stephen Cowan, Leader of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, have officially opened a bridge creating a new, more direct connection between the White City Deep Tech Campus and the wider White City area.  

"With this new connection, I hope that we will find new ways to collaborate, create and inspire each other.”  President Hugh Brady Imperial

The bridge, located on Wood Lane, moments from White City underground station, replaces the existing Depot Road bridge and creates an enhanced link between Imperial’s campus and the borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.

Daily use of the new bridge will begin in early November, with full completion next summer. 

Imperial’s investment in the new bridge is part of the wider regeneration of White City, which has been catalysed by the White City Innovation District, a partnership between Imperial and the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham which has seen the area transformed to an economic and cultural hotspot which competes with the most advanced economies in the world. Imperial is the anchor of the White City Innovation District, which forms part of Imperial’s WestTech Corridor.  

Commenting on the completion of the new bridge, Imperial’s President, Professor Hugh Brady said: “This is another important milestone for our White City Deep Tech Campus and one that will further strengthen our connection with the White City area. With the White City Innovation District, our partnership with London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, and our work at The Invention Rooms, Imperial is already deeply engaged with our local community of businesses and residents. With this new connection, I hope that we will find new ways to collaborate, create and inspire each other.” 

Councillor Stephen Cowan, Leader of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, added: “This new bridge acts as a gateway for our pioneering industrial strategy, which brings Hammersmith and Fulham, Imperial College London, entrepreneurs and local people together in the heart of our world-class White City Innovation District to deliver the jobs and skills of the future.” 

Enhancing local connections  

This first phase of the bridge is the new permanent access route for vehicles and cyclists. It will initially also be used by pedestrians. Work will now commence on the construction of a wide landscaped bridge section adjacent to the vehicle bridge, which will provide the new pedestrian access route to Imperial’s White City Deep Tech Campus. The pedestrian bridge is set to open in summer 2025.  

When complete, the two parts of the bridge will create an attractive, prominent arrival route which will connect with the heart of the campus and its facilities as they develop over the next decade. On the 23-acre White City Deep Tech Campus, Imperial is creating 3.8 million sq ft of teaching, research and business space, a hotel and residential uses, supported by new places to eat, drink and shop, including three acres of new public spaces.  

Connectivity across the local area will be further improved with the creation of the new East-West Link, located under the railway line, linking directly to North Kensington. Imperial recently hosted a public consultation on its plans for the East-West Link and, pending planning approval, the link could be open as early as summer 2026. Imperial’s masterplan will also be improving pedestrian and cyclist access across the area by creating new, single-level connections from White City Living all the way to the A40 Westway. 

Creating the new bridge

This technically complex project, which involved the creation of a new vehicle and pedestrian route over the London Underground Central line, was made possible by the collaborative approach of London Underground, Transport for London and the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, and a specialist project team of advisors.   

The new bridge is a sustainable structure that will stand the test of time, having been designed for a minimum life of 120 years. The 30-metre-wide bridge relies on a steel and concrete structure, clad with sustainably sourced Redwood, a natural, long-lasting and energy efficient material.  

Imperial has focused on reducing the embodied carbon of the structure, with techniques including the use of locally sourced concrete with ground granulated blast-furnace slag as a cement replacement. This has enabled the embodied carbon to be reduced by a nearly third (28%) from the original estimates.  

The bridge will also be one of the first private infrastructure projects in the UK to undertake ‘as-built carbon modelling’ to deliver improvements to its carbon targets.  

Project Team 

Gardiner & Theobald, Cost Managers  

Gross Max, Landscape Architects  

ARUP, Utilities and Sustainability Consultants  

WSP, Civil and Structural Engineers  

Meedhurst, Project Managers 

Careys, Main Contractor and Waterman, Design