Royal College Of Art, Kensington Gore, London, SW7 2EU Data via plota.co.uk

OB/25/05992 - Observations for neighbouring Authority Approved

Proposal

This Council is asked for its observations on an application submitted to Westminster City Council for: Roof extension to the Gulbenkian building and reinstatement of main entrance with new glazed opening and associated access ramp; introduction of new link bridge between Darwin and Frayling buildings; minor extension and new external link stair to the Frayling building; reinstatement and refurbishment of the Darwin glasshouse structure and amendments to the entrance on Jay Mews; installation of plant including ASHPs on the roof of Darwin and associated works across the buildings; repair work to building facades and roofs including removal of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) and replacement roofs to the Henry Moore Gallery and Stevens Building; refurbishment of roof terraces including new edge protection where required; other external works including the refurbishment and repair of facades; landscaping works to include extended podium entrance to Darwin Building, seating and planters; and other associated works. (Linked with ) Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
10 Oct 2025
✓
Approved
28 Oct 2025

Approved on 28 Oct 2025 · Last checked 23 Oct 2026

Site constraints 13

Kensington Palace conservation area
Demolition needs planning permission and permitted development is restricted.
The council must give weight to preserving or enhancing the area's character and appearance. Not every council has published its boundaries as open data.
Council document ↗
Article 4 direction
Article 4 - No 100. Named permitted development rights are withdrawn here.
An Article 4 direction withdraws particular permitted development rights, so work that would normally need no application needs one here. Not every council has published its directions.
Tree preservation order
Consent is needed before work on protected trees.
Not every council has published its orders as open data, so no order shown is not proof there is none.
Air quality management area: Kensington and Chelsea AQMA
The council has declared the area as failing an air quality objective.
Schemes that add traffic, parking or combustion plant are assessed against the area's action plan and may need an air quality assessment.
Council record ↗
Town centre: Kensington High Street
A designated centre in the London Plan.
Shops, services and active frontages are protected in centres, and main town centre uses are steered here first.
Registered park or garden about 15 m away: Kensington Gardens
Its setting is a consideration for work nearby.
Registered parks and gardens, battlefields, world heritage sites and protected wrecks are designated heritage assets: harm needs clear and convincing justification.
Historic England ↗
14 listed buildings within 150 m of the postcode pin
Nearest: 1, Kensington High Street W8, Grade II, about 13 m from the postcode pin · 1 Grade II*, 12 Grade II
The site itself is not listed. Listed building consent is needed for work that affects the special interest of a listed building, inside or out, on top of planning permission. Setting can be a consideration for buildings nearby; there is no fixed radius.
Show all 14 with distances
Historic England ↗
Habitat network: Wood pasture and parkland
Where habitat is joined up enough to work as a network. Context, not a constraint on its own.
Also on the record
Inside the Kensington and Chelsea built-up area; Public transport access: PTAL 4 (good), TfL 2023, for the 100 m square; National infrastructure project about 1057 m away: London Strategic Heat Main Project, at pre-application; Metropolitan Open Land about 14 m away; Priority habitat about 15 m away: Deciduous woodland.
Not affected
Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · Not green belt · No scheduled monument at the site

Checked on 2 November 2026. The pin for this application is the centre of its postcode rather than the building, so distances to nearby designations are measured from the postcode and can be out by the width of the postcode area. Historic England, the Environment Agency, Natural England, the Planning Inspectorate, Transport for London (public transport access levels, Powered by TfL Open Data, OGL v3.0, contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2025) and council datasets, Open Government Licence. A boundary can run through a site and the council holds the definitive record: confirm with the council before relying on this.

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Important details

Application type
Observations for neighbouring Authority
Postcode
SW7 2EU
Received
10 Oct 2025
Validated
10 Oct 2025
Ward
Outside Borough
Case officer
Show
Target decision
31 Oct 2025
Decision
Granted
Decision date
28 Oct 2025
Applicant
Show

How this decision compares

Decided in 18 days from validation, 60 days faster than Kensington and Chelsea's median of 78 for full applications. Approved, as 94% of full applications here are.

36%decided within 8 weeks
94%approved
1,540decided in the last year

Plota live figures for full applications decided by Kensington and Chelsea in the last twelve months, from validation. Kensington and Chelsea decision record →

Consultation & key dates

Comments by
7 Nov 2025
Kensington and Chelsea
Planning Authority Score
5.1/10
Average
#144 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Householder decisions

Kensington and Chelsea ranks #174 out of 296 councils for householder decision speed. Householder applications are slightly more likely to be approved here (94%) than the national average (90%).

These figures are council-wide context, not a prediction for this application. View full council performance
Kensington and Chelsea decision statistics
Based on MHCLG data, the nine months to December 2025
93%
Overall approval rate
Above avg (87%) #58 of 296
94%
Householder approved
Above avg (90%) #110 of 296
61%
Decided in 8 weeks
Below avg (63%) #174 of 296
40%
Extended time limit
Below avg (41%) #152 of 296
94%
Minor dwellings approved
455 decided (1-9 homes)
87%
Change of use approved
53 decided
1,839
Total decisions
135 refused in the nine months to December 2025