Hanover Square, London

Great Portland Estates Plc was granted detailed planning consent in May 2011 for a 1.3 acre development around the eastern ticket hall of Crossrail’s Bond Street station.

Motion assisted in the pre-planning negotiations with Westminster City Council. The key transport issue to surmount was how to ensure the proposals integrated with the provision of Cross Rail and how to safeguard service and delivery access to the floor space. This required extensive negotiation with Transport for London to reach a satisfactory outcome.

While the immediate surroundings are predominantly retail and commercial, the approach roads go through residential areas. A number of constraints had to be overcome, including listed buildings, traffic congestion, luxury shopping and, most significantly, a new railway station.

Motion undertook a detailed study of on-street parking and servicing in the surrounding area. The proposed combination of service yard and street network servicing was designed to keep congestion to a minimum during peak times, whilst making efficient use of the ground floor area on the site.

Hanover Square will deliver 205,000 square feet of world class retail and office space, and six luxury apartments.

“We ended up with the perfect solution. The Council agreed to a shared loading bay for all deliveries, designed to cope with any potential backlog.  The proposal takes into consideration the very narrow neighbouring streets and will ease congestion in Hanover Square.”

David Farries, Development Manager, Great Portland Estates Plc