City of Westminster (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Alumni, architects and creatives have launched a campaign opposing Kohn Pedersen Fox’s plan to demolish the former London College of Fashion building.
In an effort to prevent planners from “erasing London’s fashion heritage” before the final decision, which will be announced by Westminster Council tomorrow (9 December), the organization created a petition last week that has now received over 100 signatures.
The proposed obliteration is an element of a KPF plan to patch a rejected structure from the early 1960s off Oxford Street to produce shops, services, and an artistic center with a theater , event space, and fashion mecca. TP Bennett designed the structure at 33 Cavendish Square.
The plan calls for demolishing the council’s 1963 Modern block on John Princes Street, which was created by TP Bennett and Douglas Rogers Stark of the London County Council, though further than half of the original structure would remain.
In 2023, the council relocated to Stratford, east London.
Anisa Topan, a crusade organizer and former pupil at London College of Fashion, is championing for the” meaningful retention” of the council structure’s heritage by integrating it into the larger plan rather than demolishing it.
‘John Prince’s Street was more than a campus. It was a rite of passage,’
Topan said.
‘You walked through those doors and stepped into the heart of London’s creative engine.’
A brief documentary film about the building’s importance to other graduates, academics, designers, and business leaders is part of the campaign.
Architectural designer and fellow signatory, Fakhry Akkad, said:
‘We are not opposing regeneration; we are proposing a smarter one. There is cultural and commercial value in preserving part of what made this building significant to so many.’
The idea will
“deliver a modern, environmentally responsible, and contextually sensitive mixed-use development that revitalizes the site,”
according to KPF planning documents.
In order to “minimize new embodied carbon,” the design would preserve the current office tower on the property.
Additionally, it states that the London College of Fashion’s
“retention of an existing mosaic panel and/or concrete tracery”
will be
“explored and incorporated into the finishes.”
The Twentieth Century Society, a heritage advocacy group, has not objected to the application, but it has specifically mentioned these two components, which it hopes will be “incorporated into the public areas of the building” in order to “tell the 50-year story of the London College of Fashion in the West End.”
Although “the former London College of Fashion is of some interest, it does not have sufficient merit to be regarded as a non-designated heritage asset,” the planning officer for Westminster Council has recommended that the application be approved.
In July of this year, the site received a certificate of exemption from listing from Historic England. It claimed that the London College of Fashion building no longer had enough interest to be eligible for listed protection because its “undoubted interest” had been “significantly compromised by later alterations.”
The decision will be subject to a referral to the Mayor of London and more than £2.5 million in local S106 contributions if the council grants planning clearance.
Regarding the live application, Westminster Council declined to comment. After a recent cyberattack on London municipalities in late November, it is still regaining its planning functions. Last week, Westminster and other municipalities with shared IT systems, such as Kensington and Chelsea, received warnings of a two-week delay in service access.
A High Court judge ruled in March against Michael Gove’s attempt to thwart the expansion proposal, and M&S won a court struggle to demolish its own flagship shop at the location of the former London College of Fashion building.
The AJ has reached out to KPF for comment.
How will Westminster Council decide on the planning application?
The inventor receives guidance on planning programs and regulations before formally applying. The formal planning operation is submitted online and checked for absoluteness within 8 weeks.
Public notices are issued, and commentary is invited from residents, stakeholders, and statutory consultees. Planning officers check the point and girding area to assess the impact of the proposed development. Planning officers prepare a report with recommendations grounded on planning programs, discussion responses, and point examinations.
The decision will consider factors similar as heritage preservation, design and access, environmental impact, and community response. The council will weigh the benefits of redevelopment against enterprises raised by residents and pleasers to guard London’s fashion heritage. The final decision is anticipated to be blazoned at a council meeting on December 9, 2025.