In the summer I got wind of plans to build a hotel on the Samovar space adjacent to Brent Council's Civic Centre. I asked Quintain what was planned and they responded with a statement published here in August 2025 LINK.
Cherries in blossom outside the side entrance to Brent Civic Centre (Photo: Wembley Park)
The Samovar shell had been removed without any notice and was later found in a corner of Union Park. Locals, shoppers and fans, will be familiar with the orange benches and cherry trees presently occupying the open space (above) and the markets held opposite the Civic Centre and Sainsbury. Quintain said that this space was always meant to be temporary.
Revised plans to go to Brent Council in February or March 2026 lower the proposed building slightly and is less dense that originally proposed. It could be either office space or a hotel. As Brent Council has had little success in letting its own surplus office space a hotel sounds more likely.
The 'public' space (owned by Quintain) will be smaller than at present and images indicate that the Civic Centre will be hidden from some perspectives. Residents of the nearby Landsby East building may fear they will be overlooked by hotel bedrooms. The pedestrian route will lose some of its current unique quality.
Quintain have put up an A5 notice on the site with a link to their plans but clearly the proposals need wider publicity and I hope this post will help.
Quintain announcement on their wesbitesite LINK where a presentation can be found.
• Date of planning submission February/March 2026.
• Planning determination will take around 3 - 4 months and if approved construction will not commence until end of 2026 at the earliest.
• Construction likely to take 2 - 3 years.
• If you wish to make any comments or have any questions on these proposals, please
send them to :
Here are some extracts from the presentation:
You will need to look carefully but on the above the thin blue dotted line shows the original proposal for height and density. The grey is the current proposal.
The current space with Engineer's Way at the top and market stalls at the bottom.
In an attempt at reassurance over the loss of the larger space Quintain puts forward three examples of how the smaller space could be used.
In the proposal, what was the 'every day' route to Sainsbury's and the Civic Centre is re-routed via the front of the hotel. Other routes go across Samovar Square which raises questions about congestion when events take place in the square.
