About the Project
What?
The Paddington Places strategy seeks to transform North Paddington’s fragmented neighbourhoods into a vibrant, healthy, and inclusive area by rebalancing the environment to enable legible and safe pedestrian and cycle movement, and to create great public spaces.
Where?
Paddington Places focuses on the area between and around Royal Oak tube Station and the Edgware Road tube Stations, including Bishops Bridge Road, the section of Canal between Warwick Ave and Paddington Basin, and the area around City of Westminster College.
Why?
Paddington has never been a ‘typical’ area of London as it has been continually disrupted by infrastructure over a long period of time. The Westway has been an emblem of disruption and severance in the city and the most visible symbol of a series of metropolitan innovations that Paddington has adopted over the last 250 years, resulting in an unusual concentration of linear infrastructure, urban ‘scar tissue’, and a loss of distinctive places that connect between otherwise successful parts of Westminster: this is the condition that this project seeks to address and transform.
When?
The Paddington Places strategy includes a comprehensive programme of projects that will be delivered across a range of timescales.
The development programme includes short term projects, such as small public realm improvements, to be delivered over the next few years; medium term projects such as new public spaces and street renovations over the next 10 years; and long term projects such as new developments or major changes to highway layouts that will likely be delivered after 2030.
We are engaging on a strategy for the area which sets out guidelines for connectivity, healthy landscapes, and placemaking as well as concept designs (RIBA stage 2) for a number of sites.
About the Project
What?
The Paddington Places strategy seeks to transform North Paddington’s fragmented neighbourhoods into a vibrant, healthy, and inclusive area by rebalancing the environment to enable legible and safe pedestrian and cycle movement, and to create great public spaces.
Where?
Paddington Places focuses on the area between and around Royal Oak tube Station and the Edgware Road tube Stations, including Bishops Bridge Road, the section of Canal between Warwick Ave and Paddington Basin, and the area around City of Westminster College.
Why?
Paddington has never been a ‘typical’ area of London as it has been continually disrupted by infrastructure over a long period of time. The Westway has been an emblem of disruption and severance in the city and the most visible symbol of a series of metropolitan innovations that Paddington has adopted over the last 250 years, resulting in an unusual concentration of linear infrastructure, urban ‘scar tissue’, and a loss of distinctive places that connect between otherwise successful parts of Westminster: this is the condition that this project seeks to address and transform.
When?
The Paddington Places strategy includes a comprehensive programme of projects that will be delivered across a range of timescales.
The development programme includes short term projects, such as small public realm improvements, to be delivered over the next few years; medium term projects such as new public spaces and street renovations over the next 10 years; and long term projects such as new developments or major changes to highway layouts that will likely be delivered after 2030.
We are engaging on a strategy for the area which sets out guidelines for connectivity, healthy landscapes, and placemaking as well as concept designs (RIBA stage 2) for a number of sites.
Comment on the initial ideas
If you have a particular comment about a specific place, you can click on the links below to skip to that section. Please enter your comments and scroll to the end to submit.
1. Westbourne 'Gateway'
The junction of Westbourne Terrace and Harrow Road was reshaped by the arrival of the Westway in the 1960s prioritising vehicle movement over pedestrians and cyclists. This has created problems in this area including disconnected neighbourhoods and places bounded by infrastructure. The junction has few crossing locations and a poor-quality environment for pedestrians and cyclists.
Identified opportunities
Here proposals could reduce the dominance of vehicle traffic by introducing new signalised crossings, and new cycling lanes. This could better serve both strategic cycle movement and local pedestrian routes, both north-south along Westbourne Terrace and east-west from Royal Oak to the canal via Kingdom Street.
Environmental upgrades could potentially reclaim and transform this place into a better space for local residents and workers. Hard and soft landscaping improvements and new lighting could focus on improving the space under the Westway as well as the entrance to Westbourne Green and up to Kingdom Street.
The proposed 5 Kingdom Street development offers the opportunity for a more accessible route through to Paddington Central.
Any improvements must seek to safeguard the operational moorings. The complex operations on the canal require coordination with the relevant stakeholders, from landowners to Canal & Rivers Trust and the commercial and residential moorers to safeguard their operations.
4. Paddington Green and St Mary’s Churchyard
Paddington Green, St Mary’s Church and the Churchyard are an important heritage asset. They are established spaces but suffer from being disconnected with the surrounding area. The Westway has reshaped their historic footprint and is a barrier to north-south connectivity.
Working with St Mary’s Church would be vital in understanding how these landscapes could be brought back into more active use and better link to other local places.
Identified opportunities
Sensitive landscape improvements that respect the character of the historic landscape could bring spaces into more active use, particularly at St Mary’s Churchyard by introducing activities that fit the community needs from educational to natural play. Further areas of soft landscaping could complement and reference the historic landscapes along the route to Church Street and potentially link to the Green Spine proposals, resulting in a strategic green ribbon. Such additions could help improve the Westminster College forecourt to better connect it with the historic landscapes.
Improvements to make the existing pedestrian route via Church Yard Walk able to accommodate both pedestrians and cyclists could link to the strategic route between Bishop’s Bridge Road and Church Street.
Improvements to the existing subway entrances could include better lighting and measures to increase safety and comfort. This could greatly benefit north-south connectivity whilst integrating into new development at each end.
5. Marylebone Flyover - Edgware Road and Cabbell Street
The completed TfL Safer Junction project and soon to be delivered SuDS scheme are reshaping the four corners of the Marylebone Flyover junction to improve safety and create a better pedestrian environment.
The spaces underneath the Marylebone Flyover are currently isolated and underused. They do not suit the expected experience of such a busy metropolitan interchange. This is further worsened by the poor street level connectivity between the two Edgware Road stations, not necessarily in terms of interchange rather in terms of directional clarity and intuitive connections. The junction is expected to continue changing over time as more development is coming forward at each of the four corners.
Identified opportunities
As this junction is transformed over time, this project offers the opportunity to add further public realm improvements. Initially as early win interventions to tie into the TfL SuDS scheme, including additional soft landscaping and the introduction of wayfinding structures and lighting to create clear routes and landmarks.
Improvements outside the Cabbell St station entrance could help create a better public space for pedestrians, cyclists and station users.
A longer-term vision that includes the public spaces at the four corners of the junction could help to steer proposals as development comes forward. Active uses could be incorporated under the flyover to create a safe and engaging environment that references local activity.