The 24-hour front desk at Hammersmith Police Station will close on Saturday (October 8) in preparation of the building’s £59 million redevelopment.

The counter will relocate one mile away to Shepherd’s Bush station in Uxbridge Road while work, expected to take two years, is carried out at Hammersmith.

It is hoped the revamped station, in Shepherd’s Bush Road, will reopen in January 2019.

It was built in the 1930s by renowned architect Donald McMorran and is a Grade II listed building. Over the years it has grown piecemeal to include three neighbouring buildings.

Under redevelopment plans, the original police building that provides the public entrance and front counter will remain, but the other buildings will be demolished and replaced with a four-storey fit-for-purpose facility.

A CGI of the new-look Hammersmith Police Station, seen from the front on Shepherd's Bush Road

The plans are being put forward by the Met and Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC), which holds the force to account and looks after police property estate.

As a result of the closure:

  • The 24-hour front desk will be temporarily relocated to Shepherd’s Bush Police station
  • Neighbourhood policing teams will be moved to other areas within Hammersmith and Fulham borough, such as Empress State Building in West Kensington and Shepherd’s Bush Police Station
  • Custody, CID and other teams will be moved to Chiswick and Acton police stations while work is being carried out
  • Police horses living in stables on the site will be moved to Imber Court in Molesey, Surrey, while larger and improved facilities are built

The news of what will effectively be a new police station comes as Fulham Police station in Heckfield Place is downsized to accommodate the new Fulham Boys School .

Hammersmith Police station as it is now

Once completed, the new Hammersmith Police Station will have:

  • A modern environment with a focus on mobile digital technology to enable officers to report and respond in the community
  • Maintained 24/7 Front Counter public access and the Grade II listed building
  • Increased and more flexible floor space to accommodate additional police officers and personnel
  • Improved and expanded stables that will maintain the popular presence of mounted police in the Hammersmith area
  • Basement parking for more vehicles and making better use of the site
  • A new yard enabling large vehicles and horse boxes to be taken into the site and off the road
  • Spaces for lockers, welfare and catering facilities
  • A new and expanded custody suite
  • Memorials within the site, such as the Second World War memorial above the front desk, will be stored away and reinstated into the new-look station once building in completed

The front counter at Fulham Police Station will continue to operate normal operating hours of Tuesday to Friday 9am – 5pm and midday - 8pm on Saturday.

Memorials such as this, currently above the front counter at Hammersmith Police Station, will remain