A £500 million ‘vertical village’ skyscraper is being built in Kensington

Could ‘vertical villages’ be the future of London living? We know that the capital is desperately in need of new homes, especially affordable ones. Now one developer is building £500 million new skyscraper in west London, and they’re calling it a village. 

A tower in Kensington that began construction in 2020 is finally nearing completion, and will open its doors in 2027, developers SevenCapital and MARK Capital Management have announced. 

The 100 Kensington tower will be made up of 462 new homes, of which roughly 40 percent (186) will be affordable, if developers stick to their word. The 29-storey skyscraper, which will become the tallest residential tower in the borough, will also have 129 market sale apartments, including two duplex penthouses. 

Located on a 1.7 hectare site, the ‘village’ will have rooftop gardens and terraces, a pavilion building for cinema screenings and events, a health club with gym, swimming pool, concierge, retail and office premises and a podium garden. It all sounds very luxurious. 

There will also be three ‘mansion buildings’, one of which will have 186 affordable houses managed by private rental company Notting Hill Genesis. 

As for the architecture and design – by John McAslan & Partners and Corstorphine & Wright, respectively – the swish tower will have a stone-like façade with chamfered full height windows, juliet balconies and aluminium perforated façade panels. 

Here’s a first look at the building’s design. 

The London housing market is now ‘impossibly unaffordable’, according to a thinktank. 

London’s Elizabeth Tower and Young V&A have just won very prestigious architecture awards. 

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