The Golden Mile: Transforming the polluted and noisy corridor into place to walk, cycle and paddle

 

Hounslow officially launched the £7.5bn Vision Framework for the “Golden Mile” in March 2026, following the council’s approval of the investment framework in January 2026. The plan is to add 14,000 new homes, 25,000 new jobs and investment into key infrastructure.

 

I take a tour of one of the newly completed ‘gateways’ to the Golden Mile, 1-4 Capital Interchange Way. The housing development of 400 flats plus commercial space for Redrow and Catalyst Housing was designed by Turner architects. The site is bordered by the M4 Chiswick Flyover and Chiswick High Street. 

 

Step between the towers, however, and it’s hard to imagine the road is there at all. Shop frontages create a pedestrian scale, while the development’s high-rise blocks screen the sound of traffic and provide shade – a relief. 

 

An earlier project has set the precedent for the pedestrian-led regeneration of the area. Down the way, the nearby Brentford Project may be located outside the Golden Mile framework, but it’s clear Ballymore’s investment in public realm and activation has inspired the council’s vision for the area. 

 

The 4.79-ha residential development, designed by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, Howells Architects and Maccreanor Lavington, includes 14,000 sq m of new retail, as well as leisure and commercial opportunities. Situated away from the M4/A4 at Brentford Town Centre, Phase 2 is currently under construction. 

 

A major feature of the Brentford Project is how it has reconnected the high street all the way to the canal. Previously, this area had no connection to the water, but the Golden Mile is evolving into a place where you can walk, cycle or paddle along its 4km length.

 

Recent changes mean, for the first time in over 20 years, it’s possible to walk the entire stretch of canal from Brentford High Street through to Boston Manor Park — a route that carries you directly past another ambitious redevelopment, 980 Great West Road (GWR). 

 

980 GWR is a major mixed-use development by Hadley Property Group that reimagines and repurposes the vacant headquarters of global pharma giant GSK. 

 

“Because everyone likes what is happening at the Brentford Project, that makes it easier for us to progress plans at 980 GWR,” says Matt Griffiths‑Rimmer from Hadley. “People are seeing the improvements these schemes are making.”

 

Under a masterplan by Haworth Tompkins, alongside Studio Egret West, dRMM and Metropolitan Workshop, 980 GWR is set to deliver 2,300 new homes alongside 320,000 sqft of commercial and community uses, marking a transition from closed-off corporate complex to open innovation district.

 

The 13-acre 980 GWR site was built only 26 years ago to house more than 5,000 GSK workers. Access to the canal from the site was inaccessible to the public. But when GSK was split into two independent firms, the office complex was too large and too expensive for either group to carry. 

 

GSK’s departure hit the local economy. Ken Bath, Site Operations Manager, says: “If you go and speak to some of the pubs, they feel the loss of GSK. Every time there’s a team building exercise or celebration, you don’t do that in the office, you do it at the pub.”

 

The ambition is to restore everyday footfall to the area – not through a single employer, but with the creation of an open, public-facing neighbourhood.

 

Griffiths-Rimmer said: "The completed scheme is far from a closed campus, where people either live or work. There’s a range of reasons people will be here. The scheme’s got a broad range of tenures, so there’s something for everyone: build to rent, homes for sale, social rent, some student accommodation and co-living, as well as community space, neighbourhood shops and supermarkets, and then down by the water, restaurants and public realm. A whole series of different ways people can interact with the river."

 

On my visit, 980 GWR is just a shell, surrounded by hoardings that read "the gates are coming down”. But there’s a feeling that change is already coming. Kayaks and paddleboards are stored outside. Sculptures are dotted across the site – an intervention to activate the area during its multi-phase development. (I’m told the artworks which have been part of the site’s heritage since the HQ was built, will be moved to permanent homes across the site following some upcoming co-design sessions.)

 

 

Future plans include prefabricated structures under the M4 – prefabricated structures Griffiths-Rimmer described as "a mini-Boxpark type of space, with more of a community feel” – to transform these dark and unsociable spaces into a mini–New York style destination full of food options and workspaces.

 

Hadley is also looking to create an Innovation Hub at 980 GWR to start bringing businesses to the area. London Borough of Hounslow has committed £70,000 to the concept, aimed at micro businesses and companies of 10 to 30 people, with the University of West London as potential knowledge partners.

 

A former GSK meeting room has been left fully-fitted with the IT equipment needed to immediately start getting this work off the ground. The barriers are time and funding but Hadley property Group and the Council are both confident that the doors will open in the comming months.

 

At this time the sector focus of the hub is intentionally fluid ans aimed at micro businesses and SMEs across a range of creative, tech and manufacturing sectors.

 

“Its role is to help translate innovation into real economic and social value, strengthen networks that drive innovation forward, and act as a platform for inclusive growth across the district.”

 

Importantly, the Hub is not solely intended to attract inward investment and employers. A core objective is to ensure that local people can access the opportunities created by growth in the district. 

 

If it goes ahead, it will see businesses occupy the space for the first time in years. 

 

 

The Golden Mile Business and Developers Forum brings key property stakeholders together to facilitate joined-up thinking when it comes to infrastructure, public realm and amenities. Members include the London Borough of Hounslow, West London University, Areli, Sky, JCDecaux and Hadley Property Group.

 

A new station at Southall will link passengers directly to the Elizabeth Line in 10 minutes. Improvements are also planned for the existing District and Piccadilly Lines. Should plans for the West London Orbital Route – a new underground link – go ahead, another puzzle piece will fall into place.

 

On that hot London day, the cultural shift is most tangible along the canal. Away from the traffic, where the cafes and restaurants spill out across the pavement, watching people pull their paddleboards towards the water, the future seems plausibly golden.