THE REGENERATION project to transform four dilapidated railway arches on America Street, Southwark has completed, delivering vibrant new spaces for restaurants, cafés, bars, and other leisure businesses to thrive in a Central London location.
The arches, situated under a 19th century railway viaduct between Southwark Bridge Road and Great Guildford Street, have undergone extensive renovation and revitalisation works, including the re-lining of all arch spaces, new insulated floor slabs suitable for restaurant use, energy efficiency upgrades, and glazed front infills.
As design architect for the scheme, Stephen George + Partners (SGP) drew on both its technical expertise and strong track record working with historic buildings to create the contemporary spaces, which nod to the industrial heritage of the arches.
Multi-disciplinary consultancy Pick Everard is also behind the scheme, delivering structural and civil engineering building services in close collaboration with project partners, including property portfolio holder, The Arch Company.
Santosh Patel, strategic account director at Pick Everard, said: “It’s been a pleasure to be part of another revitalisation project with The Arch Company and SGP. Having initially performed investigation works to assess the structural integrity of the arches and provide drainage solutions, our collaborative efforts to revitalise the railway arches into thriving social spaces have proved instrumental in its success.
“We look forward to seeing the historic spaces reach their full potential with a new array of restaurants, cafes and bars that have allowed more businesses to thrive and new communities to form.”
SGP’s proposals for the alteration of the America Street arches were carefully considered in a site-specific response, providing contemporary and adaptable arch spaces for prospective tenants.
High-quality façade materials were utilised within the elevation design, while the design and style of the infills helped create an on-brand aesthetic to enhance the character and appearance of the conservation area.
The completed work also forms part of attracting investment under the Low Line regeneration initiative, created to breathe new life into the Victorian railway viaduct that connects diverse neighbourhoods through Bankside, London Bridge, and Bermondsey.
Josh White, SGP principal architectural technologist, said: “The ultimate aim was for the street to be pedestrianised and so our design incorporates active frontages to increase the connection with the street. We have large glazed frontages along America Street, and to firmly anchor the scheme within the local milieu and further enhance the streetscape, bifold doors can open up onto the street, while a space to the front of two of the units can be adapted for outside seating and planting to create an appealing aesthetic to the Low Line.”
Roger King, operations director at The Arch Company, said: “We’re pleased to see the transformation of these railway arches complete. We sought to invest here in order to create spaces for businesses to thrive within. Given their excellent location, we encourage anyone interested in renting these arches to get in touch directly.”
The America Street project is just one of ten+ projects SGP has been commissioned on. Two schemes have recently achieved planning consent in Manchester and are due to start on site soon.
Elsewhere in London, SGP, Pick Everard and The Arch Company have concluded work on Witan Street, an initiative comprising the refurbishment of six arches into high-specification commercial premises for light industrial use, located just 16 minutes away from the City of London.
