News

Since the London Borough of Hounslow awarded planning permission in March 2019 for ambitious plans to bring forward a centre for sporting excellence at Chiswick, the Quintin Hogg Trust (QHT) and the Quintin Hogg Memorial Fund (QHMF) have been delivering improved sports facilities on the site to the south of Hartington Road.

Phase 1: 2019-2020 Renovation of the Committee Rooms in the existing boat house, including the internal finishes, new double-glazed heritage style windows, and external elements including the “VIII oarsmen pattern” balustrades.

View from River Thames looking to the north

Phase 2: 2021 New all-weather mixed sports pitches (opened in the summer of 2021), including floodlighting, improvement of the public realm, upgrading the Thames path, new dedicated vehicular and pedestrian access (Quintin Lane ) from Harrington Road, and managed new car and coach parking with electric charging points.

View from river bank looking across boat yard

Phase 3: 2021. New temporary changing facilities for users of the all-weather pitches.

Boatman’s view of QBC from the river

Next Phase of planned work due to commence Summer 2024 QBC / The University Boat House : Amended planning permission, granted in November 2023, results in a reconfigured, more efficient layout for the boat house, increasing the amount and flexibility of the boat storage, which will also meet, in part, the needs of other existing users of the site - Kew House School and Chiswick School. The depth of the new boat bays allows for a significant uplift in capacity for all boat sizes up to a maximum of 200 boats.

Above part of the boat storage area, the upper floor is being rebuilt and reconfigured to provide modern changing facilities (with appropriate flexibility and separation for school “safeguarding use”), whilst maintaining the historic ‘frontage’ to the River Thames - one of the defining elements of the site. The existing 1920 building is a landmark on the River Thames. The bar and social spaces of the Boat House are being retained with full disabled access.

If you are interested you can read more about the redevelopment in a news item on the QBC website.