New plans for Fulham Town Hall
Did you have your say on the conversion proposals for Fulham town hall? Urban Village LDN went along to the public exhibition last month to see the proposed plans for the rejuvenation of this Grade Grade II listed building last used in 2014. It had been a long time since we’d stepped into any part of the building, most likely collecting a parking permit many moons ago. The building is looking quite sad, dilapidated and weather damaged but work is expected to begin this Winter to change all that.
New Fulham Town Hall will become a 82 room hotel and members club. There will be a co-working space on the first floor of the Harwood Road side of the building and a Lounge Bar for hotel guests and the general public will be open on the ground floor on the Fulham Road side on the spot where the old post office counter used to stand.
The refurbishment is being undertaken by RARE, the same architect firm that carried out the renovation of the Town Hall Hotel, Bethnal Green and we were delighted to hear a specialist is being found to repair the clock on the Harwood Road side of the building; incredibly it stopped working relatively recently.
Fulham Palace re opens
Urban Village LDN were incredibly lucky to be invited to the press launch of Fulham Palace on Wednesday 22 May. It was a gorgeous evening, we were blown away by the face lift, new additions and stories behind the restoration. Four years in the making, aided by 20 thousand volunteers, £11,000 raised through their brick campaign and £1.9 m from the National Lottery Fund. We thought the Palace looked magnificent with a brand new museum, restored rooms and new planting.
The new Palace entrance is very smart, has a fantastic gift shop selling amongst other things Walled Garden preserves and bags with a beautiful illustration of the Tudor Courtyard. The first exhibition showcases the archaeological finds unearthed during the restoration including the bones of Caspar the Bull Mastiff, Golden Wonder crisp packets took us down memory lane and we can report that the rat beloved by mini Fulhamites is still there! There are new beds planted with exotic plants that were originally brought to the palace (and this country) by Bishop Compton 1675 - 1713 and the grounds were looking as beautiful as ever awaiting jazz, picnics, open air films, theatre productions and more this summer.
Sian Harrington, CEO of Fulham Palace Trust praised the Fulham community for “their support in helping us realise our vision for the Palace” as did Stuart Hobley, Head of the National Lottery Fund London “players have helped create an exciting future for Fulham Palace”. We don’t condone gambling but we’re pleased that the money we’ve spent on lottery tickets has been put towards something incredible in our urban village.
