57-70 Old Compton Street

Client: Soho Estates

Borough: City of Westminster

Date: September 2023-December 2024

In 2019, Soho Estates began looking at a wholesale redevelopment of a number of buildings on Old Compton Street and Bourchier Street, which are home to various businesses including restaurants and flexible workspace, to provide much-needed new office space. However, following consultation with local stakeholders, the proposals were changed to retain the existing buildings and reduce the size and scale of the scheme.

Renovating the buildings provided an opportunity to:

• Modernise and improve the buildings and office space to ensure their ongoing use

• Bring the buildings’ environmental and sustainability credentials up-to-date 

• Improve the internal layouts, accessibility and security of the building

• Increase the active retail and restaurant frontage on Old Compton Street

• Create new office frontages on Bourchier Street

• Provide additional in-demand office space

• Create new terraces providing valuable outdoor space for office workers with planting to increase biodiversity

• Improve the road surface and lighting on Bourchier Street, making it safer and more walkable.

  On behalf of Soho Estates, Comm Comm UK led the public consultation to share information. This involved correspondence, meetings and the production of promotional material for local stakeholders, businesses and politicians. We created a project website to showcase plans and held a public exhibition locally to the site to exhibit proposals. Local feedback was positive and communication with local groups was well received.

Nearer to the planning committee date, we created a Summary of Proposals report to summarise the changes and benefits of the scheme, which was distributed to committee members. The planning application was submitted in Spring 2024 and unanimously approved by Westminster CC in December 2024.