The station is located on the site of the Battle of Turnham Green (1642), during the First English Civil War.

The Royalist lines, facing London, extended southward from the station to where the Great West Road now runs.

The Gunnersbury Triangle nature reserve, run by the London Wildlife Trust, is a short walk from the station entrance.

The new station was designed by Charles Holden in a modern European style using brick, reinforced concrete and glass.

Holden's design was inspired by Alfred Grenander's underground station Krumme Lanke in Berlin.