Permission denied: plans for "container city" to rival Shoreditch's Boxpark at Shepherd's Bush market rejected by Hammersmith & Fulham council

Plans for a new “container city” featuring cafés, restaurants, and artists’ studios on a site beside Shepherd's Bush Market have been rejected by Hammersmith & Fulham council this week.

A £150 million plan to build luxury flats on the site had also previously collapsed when developers Orion Land & Leisure and the U+I Group failed to secure a compulsory purchase order on a slice of land in Goldhawk Road that they needed to complete their building site.

The 'boxpark plan' for the original one-acre development site was to add a modern extension to the 103-year-old Shepherd’s Bush Market housed in 74 glass-fronted shipping containers, which would be open until 10pm at weekends.

The plans had horrified some market traders who claimed the new site would have stolen their custom, while more than 183 local residents also objected to the plans, fearing that the development would have caused chaos in surrounding streets.

Similar examples of “container architecture”, including Pop Brixton and Shoreditch’s Boxpark, are already in successful operation, and last month plans for a similar attraction in Camberwell were unveiled.

The rejected Shepherd’s Bush project would potentially have been London’s largest example of a container city, with plans for events including yoga workshops, children’s parties, and silent cinema screenings in a public square which will be created at the centre of the site.

“The overall strategy for our proposals is to start to ensure that Shepherd’s Bush becomes a hub of cultural diversity and artistic talent,” explained a spokesman for the submitted plans ahead of the refusal. “Our plans are a trigger to really raise the profile of the existing market, so that footfall is encouraged and Shepherd’s Bush Market is a destination market once more.”