Placemaking, the art of curating communities and cultural hubs around new developments, can have many origins. For property developer Gabriel Chipperfield the idea of turning a Bayswater backstreet into a fashionable spot began with the need for a good cup of coffee. “I’d just started work on a residential project in Leinster Terrace, which looked great on paper: it has period architecture and is around the corner from Hyde Park and Paddington,” recalls Chipperfield, 36, who is the son of Pritzker Prize-winning architect David Chipperfield and who co-founded the property development firm Wendover Partners with Saul Sutton and Jan-Paul Coelingh in 2022. “But I looked around one day and thought, if we don’t do something with the street this is not going to happen. There was nowhere to grab a coffee or to take clients when they had a viewing.”
Foreign Exchange News, the bureau de change, coffee shop and newsagent © Max Miechowski
Chipperfield noticed a “for rent” sign in the window of the bureau de change across the road and an idea took hold. “They were only looking to sublet space and my colleague told me to forget it, we’re not in the money exchange business, but my heart kicked in – I knew I could do something interesting.” The owners agreed to the idea and thus was born Foreign Exchange News, a money exchange, coffee shop and luxury newsagent housed in a wood-lined space that attracts a vibrant clientele such as EE72 co-founder Edward Enninful and Aaron and Sam Taylor-Johnson. The owners remain partners.
