Blenheim Centre will dominate Hounslow's skyline

Jan 24 2007 By Daniel Lyons

Ray Daniel

An eighteen-storey tower block will dominate the Hounslow skyline under revised plans for the next stage of the £165million Blenheim Centre project.

Developer Blenheim Norwest is today launching a consultation into Phase 2 of the scheme with a series of exhibitions.

Residents are being invited to give their views on the proposals for the town centre development, which is set to include a 10-screen multiplex cinema, 350 flats, and dozens of new shops and restaurants.

The next stage has been launched following the opening of the Asda store and completion of Phase 1 of the scheme last October.

Ray Daniel, from Blenheim Norwest, said a planning application could be submitted to Hounslow Council by the end of March, with work starting by the end of the year.

“The town has been in decline since the 1960s,” he added. “Hounslow was the gateway to the west, with the longest retail high street in the country, but when the M4 was built people just bypassed it.

“By putting the infrastructure and facilities into place, we are taking the first step to regenerating the town.”

Mr Daniel said Phase 2 of the scheme will include 170,000 sq ft of retail space, 23,000 sq ft for family restaurants and three major sales units, although he would not confirm which major chains had expressed an interest.

The central piazza will lead out to Hounslow High Street, he added, and car parking on the site will rise to 1,000 spaces.
He also said the residential side of the scheme, made up of between 30 to 50 per cent affordable housing, will have access to roof gardens planted with trees and shrubs.

Under the original plans, the central piazza was to be dominated by two crescent shaped buildings, while high-rise blocks would push right up to Alexandra Road.

But the western end of the site is now to be scaled back, and the left-hand building has been reduced to a single tower to prevent too much of an afternoon shadow.