Westminster City Council has formally approved the use of the name “St John’s Wood Square” for the new development.

This is bringing a historical name back into use. There was a “St. John’s Wood Square” nearly 200 years ago which was located at the junction of the High Street and Circus Road and appears in the famous Greenwood Map of London in 1827. The name was only used for a few years and the houses on the square became part of St. John’s Wood Terrace and Charles Lane.

The name “Square” also evokes memories of the parade square at the heart of the old Barracks.

In the future, we will propose additional names for the individual roads and walkway within the new development, to reflect local history, royal and military connections as well as the high quality of the new development. We look forward to sharing our ideas with local people.

Our various planning changes have now been lodged with Westminster City Council and can be found on the Council’s website
here: Listed Building Consent - 23/04417/LBC
and here: Non Material Amendment 23/04396/NMA

St John’s Wood Square is applying for changes to the current planning permission to make minor amendments to the project. Most of these changes are implementing changes in policy or guidelines to bring the scheme up to date with energy targets and fire safety regulations.

We are also changing the location of the swimming pool by putting it into the lower ground floor level of the Riding School rather than the ground floor, changing our maintenance plan so we no longer need roof-based cradles, and removing 20 car parking spaces from underground.

Here is a summary of the changes:

Moving the swimming pool from ground floor to lower ground floor of the Riding School.

Why are we making the change?

• After much consideration of the pool design, our heritage experts were concerned that the heat and humidity of a heated pool could have led to damage of the timbers in the Grade II listed Riding School. It would have been possible but not optimal either for the pool or the building.
• It would not be efficient to heat and operate a pool within the huge volume of the building.

What are the benefits of the change?

• Improves public accessibility by giving entry to the pool through a managed reception at Queen’s Terrace
• Significant improvement in energy efficiency of the pool by heating a smaller volume of space – up to 90% reduction in heat load compared to the previous design
• Better pool facilities including changing rooms etc within purpose built environment
• Protects historic structure and also means less intervention into riding school space

What are the other implications of the change?

• Lower ground floor level needs to go just 27cm deeper than current plans to accommodate the pool (however this is still much shallower than the original plans for a double basement)
• Ground floor area of the riding school will offer amenities for private residents – concierge services, workspace, and lounge space, and a small residents catering kitchen (which was always present on site with extract etc. just relocated)
• It is worth noting that the works to date and under way on the riding school are all within our current listed building permission, much of the rest of the design reflects what we already have permission for with a simplification of use. For example, the mezzanine is permitted but we are reducing the number of stairs and lifts in this space enabling greater views of the listed walls and roof

Revision of the Energy strategy, removing the boilers and introducing Air Source Heat Pumps

Why are we making the change?

• We are aiming to ensure our scheme is energy efficient and sustainable
• Our planning application from 2015 does not reflect significant improvements in technology
• We are replacing a gas boiler system with the latest Air Source Heat Pump system
• We can now remove fossil fuels from the scheme (which retaining an option for a gas supply should it be required)
• We are also still installing Photovoltaics (solar panels) on some of the roofs, the locations have been subject to minor adjustments to suit the Air Soure Heat Pumps
• We are improving the insulation and air-tightness of the buildings

What are the benefits of the change?

• We will meet new energy standards called the 2021 Part L requirements – bringing our scheme right up to date in comparison with other projects – we are not obliged to do this, this a voluntary improvement
• Improves thermal values and efficiency
• Lower carbon footprint
• Lower emissions from the building
• Cheaper heating and hot water for our residents
• We will be one of the first major luxury developments to use all Heat Pump technology

What are the other implications of the change?

• The Heat Pumps are slightly bulkier than the existing roof plant
• We therefore need to make some changes to the roof veil which generally means a 30cm (300mm) height increase to shield the view and sound from the heat pumps
• This has been studied under verified views (perspective images) and is unnoticeable

Fire Safety Updates: improving exit routes

Why are we making the change?

• Our scheme is based on 2015 building regulations and a number of things have changed since the Grenfell Tower disaster
• Fire safety regulations are changing, we want to get up to date and stay ahead of the rules
• The updates captured in this application are quite broad but would be summarised as: - Minor changes to the elevations of blocks to include new escape corridors
  - Changes at ground floor level to reflect new routes
  - Updates to the general arrangement plans on each floor
  - Landscape updates in line with the building changes

What are the benefits of the change?

• Meeting and exceeding new and anticipated fire regulations
• Improved safety for all of our residents
• Better access for firefighters and emergency personnel in case of an emergency

What are the other implications of the change?

• Minor changes to the look of each block
• Changes to the landscaping to reflect changes in the buildings
• Block 9 – affordable housing – will need a more substantial change, but is not included in this application. It will be subject to its own separate application shortly

Block 9 – removal of 20 basement car parking spaces in a car stacker, and changing it to 1 disabled space

Why are we making the change?

• Current planning policy in Westminster and London encourages car-free developments
• Demand for parking is dropping
• Simplifies construction
• We understand that affordable housing providers do not like car stacking systems as they add cost and complexity, raising service charges

What are the benefits of the change?

• Brings our development closer in line with other developments
• Reduced car use
• Improves environmental performance of the scheme
• More attractive and cheaper to operate for affordable housing providers
• This is key to the successful provision of this housing in the current cost of living situation

What are the other implications of the change?

• Residents in affordable housing units will have no car park spaces and will not be able to apply for street parking permits – this is in line with Westminster City Council policy
• If we have additional disabled residents in the affordable housing, we will identify additional spaces elsewhere on the project for them to use

General minor updates such as removing maintenance cradles from roofs, minor changes to parapets and mansards

Why are we making the change?

• We have revised our maintenance strategy and will be using Mobile Elevating Work Platforms - MEWPs (aka cherry-picker platforms) to maintain roofs and facades instead of cradles on cables from the roof
• We have taken the opportunity to make minor changes to roofs, parapets and mansards eg: on block 4a and 4b which were designed but never previously submitted after the buildings changed from villas to apartments

What are the benefits of the change?

• More efficient management
• Improved roof, parapet and mansard design for block 4a and 4b
• More efficient glazing design
• Less intrusive and safer maintenance plans with more flexibility

What are the other implications of the change?

• In some places, 50cm (500mm) increase in height, unnoticeable on the elevations
• Slightly wider paths through landscaping to accommodate the MEWP vehicles

The construction work starts from the week of 22 May and will involve piling around the perimeter of the sie and excavation of space for the basement.

Piling rigs will be delivered to the site at the end of May.

The site entrance will now switch over to the Western side, with vehicles arriving via Finchley Road and Queen's Terrace (north branch). Vehicles will continue to exit the site via Ordnance Hill.

For more detailed information please see the April and May Newsletters.

By early March, most of the perimeter buidings had been demolished as well as the former squash court attached to the western end of the Riding School.

Demolition started on the wall along Ordnance Hill, which was replaced first by "heras" style fencing, and then by a wooden hoarding.

With the protected bats having been removed from the attic of the former Officers' Mess, we started demolition of this building too.

In the Jubilee buildings, a small excavator (a Kubota KX037) was lifted into the structure to remove conrete floors, as the rest of the building was demolished by hand. This work will take several weeks to complete.

The next phases of demolition will see further work on the Officers' Mess and Jubilee buildings, and the removal of the boundary wall along the north-eastern side of the site, where it borders Rosetti Mews and Rosetti House.

Last week we started crushing the material from the demolished buildings, to build up stockpiles on site to help with the construction process.

We weren’t able to move the protected bats because it was too cold – and still is – so that means work has not started on the demolition of the old Officers’ Mess.

This week, we will continue crushing works within the central areas of the site. The stockpile will be built up within the old stable areas & spread to ensure equal loading to all areas to avoid heaping of material in small areas.

Demolition works to the roof of the Jubilee building will continue on the north flank, adjacent to Queen’s Terrace. We will be working at high level from the scaffold & the roof itself dismantling the existing pitched roof.

This is primarily a timber and slate construction which needs to be taken down by hand. We will also have operatives on the lower levels of the Jubilee Building installing back propping to provide support to the structure prior to the demolition of the structure below the third floor.

This week we will start demolition works to the structure adjacent to the riding school. This is a sensitive job and we will use a top down methodology. The structure is already propped and scaffold protection works are underway. A 100 ton crawler crane will be on site to facilitate the works, lifting plant, waste etc.

We will start the demolition of the eastern boundary wall on Ordnance Hill. Heras fencing will be erected on the footpath as segregation which will allow the 20 ton excavator to pull the wall inwards into site. We will also be working on the footpath undertaking the UK Power Networks works which consist of constructing a new plinth & fitting out a new enclosure.

Scaffold works will continue to both the Jubilee building southern section and the south-eastern most structure adjacent to Ordnance Hill. These will allow other areas of demolition to be undertaken in the coming weeks.

We are hosting our Community Liaison Meeting on Tuesday evening for community representatives. We will also be producing and circulating a monthly update to our database of 850 local households.

Please do get in touch if we can be of any help or if you have any questions.

St Johns Wood Square has chosen the well respected contractor McGee who have experience of complicated projects in sensitive locations, ranging from Claridge’s Hotel to Admiralty Arch.

McGee will be taking down existing buildings by hand, and also using machines such as a long-arm “muncher” excavator. Most of the rubble called “arisings” will be crushed and retained on the site to support the construction phase. Part of the initial works will also include erecting a scaffold on Queen’s Terrace to enable the demolition of the Jubilee Buildings from the Barracks side.

During demolition we will have monitors for dust, noise and vibration around the site and we will have to operate within strict limits. If the limits are ever breached, our team will immediately be notified and can tell all work to stop so we can investigate. We will have sprayed water and a special gel to keep dust down from the site, and we will also be using screens to minimise dust and noise.

Will Sutton, Project Manager for McGee, said: “McGee is incredibly proud to have been appointed on this prestigious project. While we understand the impact demolition can have on communities, we, as a business, are committed to leaving a positive legacy. It’s for this reason we look forward to working closely with SJWS and local residents to minimise disruption on the project. As site manager, I’m on hand to help, so don’t hesitate to contact me or one of the team if you would like more information or have any questions."