White City Place
Where innovation and creativity flourish
Once the HQ of BBC Worldwide, White City Place has long been at the forefront of forging Britain’s media output. But in recent years, we’ve helped shape an exciting future for the site, collaborating with a constellation of ambitious partners working hard to establish the area as a thriving hub for 21st Century media, technology and science. Supporting fledgling start-ups, major biotech businesses, and everyone in between — today, White City Place is an expertly equipped ecosystem for companies seeking to innovate and grow.
Where we started
In 2015, Stanhope, Mitsui Fudosan and AIMCo acquired White City’s Media Village, neighbour of Television Centre. Our ambition was a long-term investment into this fast developing area of West London — and a commitment to its commercial success, innovative potential, and cultural vibrancy. Although only a stone’s throw from central London, a key challenge was promoting awareness and credibility of the area for progressive businesses looking for a place to call home.
“White City is quickly becoming one of the UK’s life sciences and technology districts.”
What we did
A unifying vision
Establishing strong strategic connections between White City Place and Television Centre, we worked closely with several major landowners – including Imperial College London, Westfield London and Berkeley St James – to implement a shared vision for the wider neighbourhood of White City. This included up to 5,000 high quality homes, over 2m sq ft of offices, new public spaces, an enhanced world-class shopping offer and a hub for academia, innovation and start-ups.
The first phase of White City Place included the refurbishment and repositioning of 3 existing buildings to transform them into a cluster of workspaces (WestWorks, MediaWorks and Garden House) united by new public realm and retail spaces.
The second phase (Gateway) consists of three new office buildings: Gateway West, Gateway Central (both completed in 2022) and Gateway East (in predevelopment).
Many hands
Bringing everyone into conversation, we established working groups to coordinate at every level – from planning projects for local infrastructure, to communications and regular engagement with local residents, stakeholders and other organisations.
Creative kickoff
To redefine White City as a culturally rich and easy-to-access destination, during the development phase we embarked on a whole host of activities to enhance the local area and raise its profile — from podcasting and theatre, to epic art spaces and a music foundation in a former BBC staff disco.
What makes
this place great
What was once a neglected corner of the city with few facilities is now a bustling campus filled with ambitious people and new ideas. White City Place is part of the White City Innovation District which brings together world-leading researchers and ground-breaking enterprises working on today’s greatest challenges and shaping tomorrow’s world. Following Imperial College’s ambitious expansion, a powerful concentration of life sciences has formed with the arrival of six biotech companies – Engitix, Novartis, Synthace, Autolus, Vivan Therapeutics and Invox – together totalling over 110,000 sq ft. White City Place also hosts over 3,000 staff from the BBC, research and teaching facilities for RCA, and ITV Studios.
In October 2020, Cadillac Fairview acquired White City Place from Stanhope, AIMCo and Mitsui Fudosan. The Gateway buildings continue to be owned by Mitsui and AIMCo. We continue with the asset management of the site.
