Green Light For Springfield Hospital Redevelopment Final Phase

Stigma-breaking site mixes new homes with state-of-the-art mental health facilities

A mock-up of the new buildings. Picture: London Square

June 20, 2023

Property developer London Square has been granted permission to build 235 new homes which will make up the final phase of the Springfield University Hospital redevelopment.

Springfield Village is a new community for Wandsworth being built as part of the redevelopment of South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust’s Springfield University Hospital.

In January 2020 the trust announced that it had secured government approval for new housing, the restoration of listed buildings and a community park as well as new state-of-the art mental health facilities at the site of the old hospital in Springfield Drive.

London Square’s contribution of 253 new homes will comprise a range of apartments and family properties ranging in size from one bedroom to four bedrooms.

43 per cent of the new homes will be classed affordable, with a mix of 37 homes for social rent and 14 shared ownership dwellings. The remaining 56 homes will be supported living. Across the development a total of 26 homes will be wheelchair accessible.

London Square’s Chief Executive, Adam Lawrence, said, “The Springfield Village masterplan is transforming the Springfield University Hospital site. We are delighted to receive approval to build new homes of exceptional quality.”

“We look forward to continuing to work with the London Borough of Wandsworth and South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust on the delivery of this final stage in the evolution of Springfield Village.”

London Square Earlsfield, as the site will be known, has been designed by locally firm Assael Architecture, who are based on the Upper Richmond Road. The architectural practice has designed Sunday Mills in Wandsworth’s Trewint Street and Peninsula Gardens in Greenwich, as well as a wide range of UK and international projects.

Assael’s Managing Director, Pete Ladhams, said, "Our design takes inspiration from the listed and local buildings on and around the site, to create sympathetic architecture that is rich in detail, and with a layout that includes new streets, public squares and courtyard gardens that prioritise pedestrian movement and deliver the vision of the strategic campus masterplan.”

The new homes will be built using brick and other materials designed to complement the Grade II listed Springfield Hospital building and the new public park at the site, with a series of park-facing detached and semi-detached houses and apartments.

In its heyday Springfield University Hospital housed two thousand patients, a number which dwindled to under 300 inpatients with much of the original hospital building no longer used.

Since South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust gained approval for the complete redevelopment of the site, the last three years have been spent developing two state-of-the-art mental health buildings delivering best-in-class facilities, a 32-acre public park, shops, a café, a new care home, land for a new school and hundreds of new homes.

The trust said, “This new stigma-breaking landscape includes the creation of more than 800 new homes, a new public square, shops and a 32-acre public park.”

The full programme is being delivered through the Trust’s Estate Modernisation Programme alongside delivery partners, STEP, a 50/50 partnership with Robert McAlpine’s Capital Ventures and Kajima Partnerships. The residential elements are being delivered by City & Country (for residential conversions of the listed buildings), as well as London Square and Barratt London (for the new homes).

“The redevelopment at Springfield represents major innovation and investment in our local community and will take until approximately 2026 to complete.”