A series of derelict railway arches in south London are getting a £3 million refurbishment to bring them back into use.
Indicative image (c) The Arch Company
The arches are slightly south of Peckham Rye station in a residential area and are being refurbished by The Arch Company, which took over their management from Network Rail in 2019.
The arches were once home to the Meridian Bronze Foundry, where many of London’s public statues were cast in bronze. These include Ivor Roberts-Jones’s statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square, The National Firefighters Memorial sculpted by John William Mills to honour the victims of the Blitz, and David Wynne’s Lion and Unicorn centrepiece for the Queen Elizabeth Gate at Hyde Park Corner.
The refurbishment will see a range of improvements undertaken to turn the arches into a flexible, mixed-use development suitable for shops, cafes, offices, and light industrial uses. On average, businesses in railway arches employ approximately five people. Therefore, renovating these fifteen arches is expected to support the creation of up to 75 jobs.
The restoration will involve fully lining each arch, creating infills, installing new floor slabs for efficient loading, and equipping them with automatic roller shutters. Utilities, such as water and electricity, are also being installed. Exterior enhancements will include resurfacing the access areas, restoring rear yards, and erecting fencing to enhance security.
There will also be a new electricity substation added into the rear yard of one of the arches to support local energy demand.
In recognition of the historical significance of these arches, the development has been named Bronze Yard, and The Arch Company anticipates that the project will complete this autumn.
The details of the arches being rented out are here.
The area around the (beautiful, in parts) station is a midden. The whole of Rye Lane is full of litter, discarded fruit, veg and animal matter, dog waste, synthetic hair balls, human urine and ugly scrawl. I’d like to think this welcomed endeavour will kick start a clean up but given past experience and evidence, I doubt it.