Planning round-up: More works to upgrade former WeightWatchers HQ

Here are the latest and most significant planning applications in Windsor and Maidenhead. Find out more by entering their reference numbers into RBWM's online planning portal.

Approved: Shanly group has revealed its wider plans for a large overhaul of the former WeightWatchers HQ in Maidenhead, amid receiving planning permission for the latest element.

Sorbon Estates, part of Shanly group, seeks to intensify the office space at Millennium House in Ludlow Road, which used to host WeightWatchers UK.

From December 2023, the weight-loss support company moved offices to Regus House in Bath Road, Slough.

WeightWatchers made headlines recently after filing for bankruptcy protections in the USA.

Sorbon Estates told the Advertiser it is looking to create a Grade A office facility with CAT A and CAT A+ suites at the site – in plain English, a high-quality office building with some spaces that are empty and ready to be customised, and others that are already fitted out and ready to use.

Sorbon says it is considering accommodating either one company or several – perhaps letting suite by suite or floor by floor, or having it as a full 20,000sqft HQ for one company.

A series of planning approvals date back to 2023, detailing various elements of this scheme.

They have included converting an ‘underused’ undercroft parking garage into additional office space and work to incorporate additional office space in the roof.

Permission was also granted to extend to the ground floor reception to create a tall entrance lobby spanning two floors with large glass panels, making ‘an enhanced arrival experience’.

^{Planned reception area}

The company also changed the use of the second-floor storage area into new office space and added a roof terrace, adding to the proposed outdoor communal amenity space.

Now a rooftop solar panel scheme of 57 panels has been approved, marking the latest phase in the wider redevelopment programme.

Sorbon is aiming to achieve an EPC Grade A for the building ie, the top energy efficiency rating – hence the solar panels, among other details like electric car charging points.

Some of the work is currently underway, and the company is aiming for the works to complete by the third quarter of this year.

The company also plans to rename the building One Ludlow, instead of Millennium House.

A spokesperson for Sorbon Estates said: “[This is] a fantastic opportunity for top class office space in Maidenhead.

“We hope that with top-notch amenities, proximity to the station and great parking, this office will appeal to any company looking to move to Maidenhead, or upsize/downsize.”

^{Planned interior}

Reference: 23/02756/FULL (wider works) via publicaccess.rbwm.gov.uk/online-applications

Approved: A rundown bungalow in Cookham is set to be replaced by a modern family home after RBWM approved it for redevelopment.

The existing house is a two-bedroom 98sqm property including a double length garage workshop.

“The whole property and site is in disrepair, needs updating extensive renovation to improve its carbon emissions and to do this would not be financially viable,” said the applicants, Ipp Management & Design Ltd.

The proposal on a 432sqm site at Sunny Top, Lower Road, will deliver a split-level four-bedroom house.

It will be set in to work with existing levels, its lowest point being the drive area and front of the house.

The home will feature a mix of flat and pitched roofs, designed to harmonise with neighbouring properties.

The new layout includes usable outdoor space exceeding 130sqm, exceeding guidelines of 70sqm for a four-bedroom house.

A biodiversity net gain of over 77 per cent will be achieved through new habitat planting, and bird and bat boxes.

Vehicular access will remain unchanged, with four off-street parking spaces (two in a garage, two on the drive).

24/01540/FULL via publicaccess.rbwm.gov.uk/online-applications

Complete: A two-storey riverside home has been completed in Old Windsor.

Building work is marked as completed at, Thames Mead, The Friary, SL4 2NS.

Approved in June, the home replaced an ageing bungalow and increases the footprint of the original home from 137sqm to 164sqm.

According to designs submitted and approved by RBWM, it introduces an upper floor with three bedrooms, raising the overall ridge height to 9.4m.

The modern design should include red brickwork, plain tile roofing, and a symmetrical front elevation with a projecting porch.

Given the setting of the River Thames, the site lies within Flood Zone 3, highest risk of flooding. To manage this, the dwelling was to be raised on stilts.

Planning officers concluded in 2022 that the development would respect both the character of the water frontage and the varied architectural styles along The Friary.

The design was considered appropriate in scale and bulk, and not visually intrusive from the river.

No objections were received at the time, and officers concluded the scheme would not harm residential amenity, trees, or local archaeology.

21/03775/FULL (original planning permission) via publicaccess.rbwm.gov.uk/online-applications