Council to Invest £1.45 Million in Watermans Arts Centre Scheme

Says money is needed to make designs compliant with new fire regs

Visualisation of the new Watermans from the original planning application. Picture: Pollard Thomas Edward Architects

November 5, 2024

A meeting of Hounslow Council’s Cabinet next Tuesday (12 November) is to consider a proposal to invest an additional £1.45 million in the Watermans Arts Centre project.

Senior councillors will be presented with a report explaining that the money is required to fund changes to the existing design to make the buildings compliant with new fire safety regulations and to prepare the site for disposal.

Originally it was intended that the centre be built with no contribution from council funds with proceeds of the sales of flats on the existing site paying for the new facility.

The project at Half Acre in Brentford has been stalled due to the housing association partner, Peabody, withdrawing from the scheme. However, the report states that talks with a new affordable housing provider are at ‘an advanced stage’.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) understands that there will be ‘around 100’ new flats built alongside the new arts centre. There is an expectation that a majority of the new homes built under this regeneration scheme will be social housing, however at this stage there is no confirmation about the exact proportion as the council continues to search for a partner.

The original design, which was granted permission in 2021, was for 105 flats with 484m2 of retail space along with the new arts centre in a seven-storey block. The centre was to have larger theatre, a two-screen cinema with a gallery to enable film festivals to be hosted as well as space for a café/restaurant. The inclusion of a cinema may be rethought following the announcement of the opening of an Everyman cinema in the Brentford Project.

The new regulatory requirements mean that a new staircase core must be incorporated into the designs on both sites. This has reduced the space available for the arts centre by around 20% The council has commissioned specialist consultants to explore potential commercially viable layouts within the revised floor area.

The report being presented to cabinet looks at the issue of 'meanwhile use' for the site which would see community based arts organisations allowed to lease the old Watermans building for a period of 12-18 months. The costs for making the building usable again are estimated to be £164,500 and the work would take at least six months. It is therefore concluded that 'meanwhile use' is impractical and that the building should be decommissioned.

The Albany Riverside development on the site of the existing arts centre and the former Max Factor officers would include 193 flats in blocks 6-7 storeys high but this cannot proceed until Half Acre site is completed under the terms of the planning approval.

If and when a new partner is identified, work could begin at the Half Acre site between the spring and summer of 2025. At this stage it is unclear when the centre and flats will open to the public.

It is expected that the arts centre will have several smaller ‘more niche’ spaces, something Councillor Salman Shaheen, Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Public Spaces, believes would be made sustainable by having a larger performance space booked.

Cllr Shaheen told the LDRS that he expects the arts centre to be a roaring success. He said, “We would love to see national class acts coming to the new arts centre. We are looking for a provider that can bring that.

“We are currently seeing a boom in Brentford, and we want to shine a spotlight on that area. We hope the theatre will host a range of class acts, from comedy… to live music… to great touring theatre shows. We hope this will put Brentford on the map and become a national attraction.

“Between the regeneration and transformation of Brentford town centre with new shops and restaurants, a burgeoning population, world-class musical acts coming into Gunnersbury Park, and a football club in the Premier League, there has never been a more exciting time for Brentford.”

Cllr Tom Bruce, Deputy Leader of Hounslow Council and Cabinet Member for Assets, Regeneration and Development, said, “This is an exciting and pivotal moment in the development of the Brentford police station site and the future of arts and culture in the area. The challenges of redeveloping this site have been significant, particularly given the most recent economic climate.

“However, we are extremely optimistic that with our emerging partnership, along with investment from the council, we can transform this vacant building into the right mix of housing and vibrant space that meets the needs of our community. Taking this forward demonstrates our commitment to Brentford, to the arts and to economic growth across Hounslow.”

Written with contributions from Philip James Lynch - Local Democracy Reporter