Earl’s Court Development, London 

Earl’s Court Development is one of the top large-scale mixed-use urban regeneration projects in Central London. It covers a 40-acre site formerly occupied by the Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre. 

Detailed plans for the first phase were submitted to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and Hammersmith and Fulham Council in September 2024. Local consultation is under way and a decision from local planning is expected in 2025. The construction is likely to start in 2026.

Backed by Developer Delancey, Dutch pension fund APG and Transport of London’s property division this project has a prime Central London location within the Earl’s Court and West Kensington Opportunity Area (London Plan 2021).

The development takes over the iconic Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre site with a vision ‘to bring the wonder’ back to the district and create an attractive London destination with a distinctive identity inspired by its legacy. 

Once completed, there will be over 4,000 homes, 230,000 sq m of workspace, 20 acres of the public realm and green space, over 1,000 cafes, restaurants, shops, three cultural venues, a community hub and a nursery. 

The first phase of Earl’s Court has over 1,000 new homes a 4.5-acre park, an office building and a cultural venue. Detailed plans for the first buildings are by Maccreanor Lavington, Sheppard Robson, Serie, DRMM, ACME and Haworth Tompkins architects.

The second phase of the scheme will be built between 2029 and 2034, and the third phase will be constructed between 2032 and 2038.

Earl’s Court Development is served by two London Underground stations: Earl’s Court and West Brompton.

Earl’s Court history

Before the mid-1800s, the land around Earl’s Court was mainly used for agriculture and was dominated by market gardens and nurseries.

The De Vere family owned over 700 acres of the estate including the hamlet of Earl’s Court for some 500 years.

In the 17^th century, the ownership of the land changed from Sir Walter Cope to the Earls of Warwick and Holland. The estate was passed to the notable Edwardes family in 1738.  

The progress of the new Metropolitan District Railway in the 1870s accelerated the urbanisation of the district and drove a flow of London’s expanding middle-class. District line services were established linking Gloucester Road and West Brompton, and Earl’s Court to Kensington. Earl’s Court Station opened in 1871, and the railway quickly adapted from transporting freight to carrying passengers. The building and construction boom that followed included new estates, streets, squares, hospitals, schools and stations. In 1886, the Olympia complex was constructed. At the time, it was the largest roof arena in England.

The Victorian Era was the time of London entrepreneurs investing in exhibitions and performing events for the public. John Whitely inaugurated the Earl’s Court Exhibition Grounds in 1887. Businessmen Imrey Kiralfy leased the same land for 21 years, built his own Earl’s Court entertainment complex and produced theatre shows and international exhibitions set within.

In 1937 the new Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre, designed by Charles Howard Crane, was unveiled. It spanned 250 feet and was ‘the biggest structure by volume’ in Europe. An adjoining barrel-roofed exhibition hall, Earl’s Court Two, was added in 1991. 

After World War II, the bomb-damaged locations surrounding Earl’s Court were marked for new social housing. Both councils invested heavily in infrastructure including the new road routes cutting through the districts to link London to A4 and Heathrow Airport.

In the sixties and seventies, Earl's Court Centre emerged as a popular art hub and the largest London international trade exhibition and conference venue ‘hosting the Royal Tournament and Earl’s Court Motor Show, Ideal Home Show, the Brit Awards (until 2010), Crufts Dog Show.  The wider area had a vibrant and eclectic character and was a location for many music clubs and venues such as the legendary Troubadour where ‘icons such as Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix performed.’ The venue served for both the 1948 and 2012 Olympic Games.

The Earl’s Court Centre was demolished in 2015. Until 2019, the site was owned by Capco and then sold to Earl’s Court Development Company.  

See Earl's Court Development website HERE

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