Romford's former Debenhams site to become homes and hotel

A significant redevelopment project is set to transform Romford's former Debenhams site into a mixed-use development featuring new homes and a hotel. The plans, discussed at a Havering Council Strategic Planning Committee meeting, propose the demolition of the existing Debenhams building at 56-72 Market Place to make way for 155 new homes, a 118-bedroom hotel, and ground-floor commercial spaces.

The scheme, which has been in development for five years, aims to revitalise the Market Place frontage and enhance Swan Walk. The two residential blocks at the rear of the site are planned to be 12 and 14 storeys high, while the hotel block facing Market Place will be approximately six storeys, matching the height of the current Debenhams building. The proposal also includes a new public plaza and a freestanding commercial building.

Materials and Design The proposed development for the former Debenhams site would largely be finished in red brick, utilising a mix of tones to articulate the various sections of the buildings. Paler tones are proposed for the tallest building in the south-east corner. The ground floor is designed to provide a solid base, utilising different materials and design techniques from the upper floors to emphasize the different land uses. The proposed fenestration gives the buildings a clear vertical emphasis, with a well-defined base and middle. There is some articulation and differentiation of the tallest elements through the use of vertical soldier courses and decorative motifs, though these are described as modest in the context of tall buildings. The design of the replacement hotel fronting Market Place has been changed from a more horizontal emphasis to a design that accentuates verticality and breaks up the mass and width of the building, giving it proportions more typical of a historic town centre. The left side of the hotel (as viewed from the front) has had its shoulder/height reduced to respect the setting of the adjacent locally listed building. The hotel entrance, however, was noted as being too grand for the setting and not in keeping with the context. ¹

Heritage and Civic Character Councillors raised concerns about the design's adherence to the Romford Town Centre Masterplan, with some feeling the frontage lacked a civic character and failed to reference the area's medieval marketplace heritage. One councillor expressed concern that the proposed buildings do not appear to reference Romford's medieval marketplace heritage, stating, it doesn't really make any reference to the fact that it's in a medieval formerly medieval marketplace. They noted that the frontage is uniform and does not convey a civic character, and that the hotel entrance is a lost opportunity to do something there that would have some character. The developer team responded by stating they are looking at how this would look in the sort of current position that Swan Walk is this really sort of green space at the moment there aren't any trees on the space so the sort of biodiversity and net gain of that is incredibly large from going from nothing so great to bring sort of more greenery in the urban context. They also mentioned looking at how we can tie in with the existing landscape and sort of architectural language. We are looking at sort of breaking up these buildings so the front building into these slightly more not terrace-like but similar sort of nature as to what the existing sort of conservation area architecture language is along this marketplace and what it used to be also reflects the development that's on the other side of us. ²

The height and bulk of the rear buildings were also a point of discussion, with a desire for more contextual integration with the surrounding conservation area.

Parking and Accessibility Parking was another key issue, particularly for disabled visitors and hotel guests. While the development is proposed to be car-free due to its high public transport accessibility level (PTAL 6a), with five disabled parking bays provided, councillors questioned the adequacy of this provision and the lack of dedicated parking for hotel guests. The proposal for the former Debenhams site includes five disabled parking bays, which would be accessed via the existing servicing access road to the east of the site that connects with Mercury Gardens. Servicing would also take place from Mercury Gardens, utilising the previous servicing area positioned on the access road that sweeps around the Liberty Centre at roof level. The Transport Assessment notes the potential for a small level of servicing from Market Place outside of market days and within current timing restrictions. ³

Beyond the general discouragement of parking in the London Plan, the decision to make this development car-free is supported by its excellent Public Transport Accessibility Level (PTAL) of 6a, aligning with London Plan policies for well-connected areas that encourage sustainable and active travel modes. The developer stated, it's important that we don't encourage people to use their private vehicles to drive to our hotel... the idea would be to discourage the use of the private motor vehicle so that visitors would not use vehicles to visit the hotel. The London Plan states that in locations with a PTAL of 6, any site provision should be limited to operational needs disabled parking and parking or passing as required for taxis deliveries so there's no requirement for any parking for the people staying there. ⁴

Commercial Spaces and Public Realm Discussions also touched upon the materials and design of the ground floor commercial spaces, with a suggestion for a warmer palette and more human-scale shop fronts to better suit the historic town centre setting. For the former Debenhams site, the proposal includes ground-floor commercial units. The developer team is looking at a variety of uses, including food and beverage, retail, and gym amenities for the residents. They are also looking at how commercial spaces respond to Market Place and Swan Walk, with slightly larger retail stores proposed along Market Place and smaller units down Swan Walk. A freestanding commercial building in the new public plaza is intended for community use, initially as a sales office and potentially for wider regeneration development. ⁵

The potential for improved signage and the design of the public realm, including a water feature in Swan Place, were also highlighted.

Affordable Housing The former Debenhams site is considered an underutilised brownfield plot, and the redevelopment is seen as an opportunity to make effective use of this town centre location. The proposal includes 20% affordable housing, weighted towards family-sized accommodation, and aims to create active frontages along Market Place and Swan Walk. For the former Debenhams site, the proposal includes 46 three-bedroom units (30%) out of 155 residential units. The applicant has suggested that affordable housing could be provided as 17 x 3-bedroom units, 7 x 2-bedroom units, and 1 x 1-bedroom unit, which is significantly weighted in favour of family-sized accommodation. ⁶