A Renovation Worth Waiting For
Story and photos courtesy of Matt Bullivant
How do you bring a fire-ravaged Grade II listed building back to life?
That was the question ably answered by another great case study tour from the Don’t Waste Buildings group at Walworth Town Hall on Friday, February 7, 2025.
Gutted by fire in 2013, an incredible restoration job by General Projects and Feix&Merlin Architects have brought it a new lease of life.
It was a real privilege to hear from Frederic Schwass, Julia Feix and Tarek Merlin on how they navigated the challenges of making an historic refurbishment economically viable and aligned with local needs.
Things that struck me the most:
💡Community engagement was critical to not only create spaces that served the needs of the local area and recognise the community memories and affection for the site, but ultimately also to win local council approval, even with proposals that are not as economically attractive as less-considerate alternatives
💡Close collaboration with planning authorities is absolutely imperative to make redevelopments and restoration of complex sites like this achievable
💡Categorising the building by area into those most warranting restoration and preservation, least viable to do so, or somewhere in between, is a really clever way of making a heavily damaged heritage building financially viable to restore, and brings the local authority on a journey to the best possible outcome
💡A light-touch approach can still result in exceptional design and surroundings, and bring to life the story and journey that such a building has been through; especially when simply recreating an interior from the 1890s would be wholly impractical
The result? An exceptionally beautiful reimagining of the building, including independent workspaces, not-for-profit operated community spaces, public access amenities, and a genuinely breathtaking adjoining library.
A renovation worth waiting for.
