Massive underground warehouse in Hounslow gets go-ahead

On the surface, a large, new public park will be built.

The mineral extraction will take place discreetly beneath the park’s surface through a ‘top-down’ construction method, with the process contained below ground in contrast to open cast mining.

The site alongside The Parkway (A312) and Bath Road (A4) will deliver Hounslow’s share of minerals required by the London Plan. Some of the minerals will be used on-site to construct the warehouse.

Work is expected to begin in 2019 with the first underground warehouse space is expected to be available for businesses to use from 2022.

Formal Investments director Nicholas King said: “With increasing worldwide demand for warehousing space close to and within cities, we believe Rectory Farm’s creative solution of putting such infrastructure underground whilst enhancing the surface environment could inspire similar approaches elsewhere.”

Samantha Smith, senior director at CBRE, added: “We are thrilled to be involved in such a massively pioneering project that will establish a new concept in the UK for a new resource for urban logistics.

“Whilst there is a lot of interest in multi-storey, multi-level warehousing development, Rectory Farm’s underground approach is exactly right for its location. It will be the biggest such speculative development within the M25 and its technical and operational aspects are already proven at existing locations in other parts of the world.”