Empty Hospital Used for Films to Become Housing
Plans to convert the Grade II-listed former Ravenscourt Park Hospital in Hammersmith, west London, into 140 homes and a 65-bed care home have been approved unanimously by Hammersmith and Fulham Council’s planning committee on 30 July.
Opened in 1933 as the Royal Masonic Hospital, the building has been empty since 2006 apart from occasional use as a film set, appearing in productions including The Queen and the 2024 Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black. It was awarded the RIBA gold medal on opening and is regarded as an early major example of International Modernist architecture in Britain. It currently sits on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register.
Developer TT Group will redevelop all four blocks: three will become housing and one will be used for community purposes, including workspace and a café. A 1970s addition known as block E will be demolished and replaced with new buildings containing the care home and affordable housing. The developer has committed to preserving the building’s Art Deco character.
Only 21 homes, or 15%, will be affordable, below policy requirements. TT Group said heritage constraints limited what was achievable, and it has pledged £2.7m towards off-site affordable housing.
Local residents raised objections, including concerns about the scale of the replacement buildings, overlooking, traffic, pressure on services and overdevelopment. The developer has agreed to plant trees for additional screening. Historic England, initially concerned about rooftop extensions, now supports the revised scheme and hopes to remove the site from its at-risk register once works finish.
Source: London Build 2026, originally published on The Landsite (22 August 2025)
