Pembridge Annexe to be demolished

Plans to demolish a disused annexe from behind Pembridge Gardens hall of residence in favour of a residential development have been clarified by the College Fund.

Pembridge Gardens, located in Notting Hill, has been operating at approximately 105 bedspaces since 2009, when it handed over its annexe to the College Fund. The annexe, deemed ‘non-core and not required for undergraduate accommodation’, has the capability of housing 32 bed spaces out of 24 bedrooms. Following its handover, the annexe remains empty and sealed off.

The College Fund aims to stabilise College finances by managing investments assets, such as the annexe and maximising their return.

John Anderson, CEO of the College Fund, says that, “it was handed over to the College Fund in 2009. This is a 1970s block which has had no refurbishment and is not fit for appropriate habitations so if it were to be continued then it would have been refurbished for that purpose.”

“We have been working with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on a planning scheme. The idea is that we knock [the annexe] down and replace it with a townhouse and 13 residential apartments.

Anderson envisages that the development, which has been going through the planning process for two and a half years, will be completed in 2014 due to a 24 month construction period.

Dr Marko Krznaric, warden of Pembridge Gardens and Parsons House has stated that his main aim in terms of the development “is to ensure that the new development, whenever it happens, has no major impact of the living conditions to the students in Pembridge.” “I have to say that the College and the Fund responded pretty well and it seems that all, or most of my concerns were addressed.”