Glen Sutton
An exciting year-round community, cultural and hospitality destination
‘One morning, with absolutely no fanfare, we opened the riverside walkway that now completes an unbroken connection between Hammersmith and Putney Bridges,’ recalls Glen Sutton, Director of Fulham Pier. ‘Within minutes a jogger ran by, then there was a lady pushing a pram, then some dog-walkers… Even better, none of them asked for permission; they were local people taking ownership of their space.’
Glen has worked on the Fulham Pier project – in effect it is the Thames-facing rear of Fulham FC’s Riverside stand – for five years. ‘The vision for this incredible building was that it would be open 365 days a year, not only on 20-25 match days. Historically, and it’s still true in 99% of cases, those 340-odd days were never given much thought until after a stadium had been built or re-developed,’ explains Glen.
‘We reversed that process. The first questions we asked were: how do we use the space all year-round and how can we make it a buzzing community focal point.’ Clearly, answers were found. What was once a closed-off area has been transformed into a cultural and hospitality hub offering a superb culinary line-up and an exciting programme of interactive activities and art and cultural events for all ages.
‘Our food hall (Riverside Market) is home to 10 independent vendors, many of whom have never had a bricks and mortar base,’ says Glen. ‘Brasserie Constance is a neighbourhood restaurant under Michelin-starred chef Adam Byatt and, in addition, we have a luxury hotel and spa with a rooftop pool (coming soon), the Little Leaf children’s library and the Orange Box, a live events venue that hosts cabaret and comedy nights and film screenings.
‘Even on busy match days we do our very best to keep all the spaces open for as long as possible. We know we have a fabulous location on the riverside; we now want Fulham Pier to become the new go-to social destination for everyone in South-West London.’
Fulham Pier
Stevenage Road
Fulham SW6 6HH
020 3002 5081
hi@fulhampier.com
https://www.fulhampier.com
