The owners of an Art Deco former hospital in west London that has become one of the capital’s most popular film and TV locations have been given the go ahead to turn it into 140 new homes.
The Grade II* listed former Ravenscourt Park Hospital in Hammersmith closed almost 20 years ago but has been used for productions such as The Queen, Locked In, Starstruck, Back To Black, Say Nothing and Sweetpea.
In May it was named location of the year at the Global Production Awards 2025 in Cannes. The brick building known for its triple-height art deco entrance hall has been used on screen as both a modern and period hospital but also as a bank, luxury hotel and corporate boardrooms. It has doubled for locations in New York, Italy and Ireland.
It was opened by King George V in 1933 as the Royal Masonic Hospital after relocating from Chelsea to provide low-cost treatment for Freemasons and their families. It won RIBA’s Gold Medal Building of the Year Award in the same year. The 260-bed facility was then Europe’s largest independent acute hospital before closure in 1994.
It reopened as an NHS hospital in 2002 as Ravenscourt Park Hospital but shut its doors for good just four years later. It has since entered Historic England’s Heritage at Risk register.
Developer TT Group acquired the 3.87-acre site in 2022 when it began drawing up plans for a redevelopment including 140 new homes, a 65-bed care home and community use spaces.
The building comprises four red-brick hospital blocks – all of which will be brought back into use – are highly recognisable for their bold geometric style, minimal ornamentation and flat roofs, which earned them RIBA’s prestigious Gold Medal Building of the Year Award in 1933.
Last night it won approval from Hammersmith and Fulham Council for proposal to turn the hospital’s former wards and treatment blocks into new homes ranging from studios to large family apartments, There will also be amenity spaces such as workspace, lounge areas and private gardens. The administrative building that once served as the hospital’s entrance will have spaces available for hire for community uses.
The proposals - to designs by architects SPPARC retain and refurbish the former hospital’s Art Deco features, including welded steel semi-circular sun balconies, some of the inter-war period’s lavish interiors, and two original Greek-inspired statues that flank either side of the main entrance.
A later 1970s addition to the site will be replaced with a purpose-built specialist 65 bed elderly care home and more residential units “that better harmonise with their neighbouring heritage buildings.”
A network of pedestrian routes through landscaped gardens will also open up parts of the site up to the public for the first time.
Duncan Brisbane, Development Director at TT Group, said: “The former Ravenscourt Park Hospital’s revival is long overdue, with planning approval ensuring this important building can finally be brought back into long-term use. Alongside a best-in-class project team, we now look forward to bringing the proposals to life, building on our track record for delivering much-needed housing on some of London’s highest-quality brownfield sites.”
Trevor Morriss, Principal at SPPARC, said: “As one of Britain’s very first examples of the international modernist movement, this landmark of inter-war design is deserving of a new use that honours both its historic and architectural significance. With every aspect of the masterplan designed to respect and pay tribute to the original Art Deco design, the planning consent will ensure that the former hospital can once again return to meaningful use that puts an end to nearly 20 years of vacancy.”
