Two railway arches close to Blackfriars railway station are to be turned into an LGBTQ+ cultural space, as part of the planning agreement for the wider area’s property development.
Bankside Yards Arches (c) Edmund Sumner
The developer of the Bankside Yards estate, Native Land has now opened a call for an operator to run the space.
The cultural space is being delivered to ensure that a prominent space is retained for the use of the LGBTQ+ community as the 5.5 acre Bankside Yards development. It will be roughly where Pulse Nightclub, which hosted the XXL nightclub night used to be until it closed down, but the replacement occupant won’t have a late-night license, so no nightclubs this time.
The venue is expected to benefit from the footfall generated by the remaining twelve arches on the site, which will be converted into retail, leisure and food & beverage units. Native Land will also be opening up new pedestrian routes through the viaduct to create walkable links between the South Bank and Bankside.
Interested operators are invited to submit proposals that will create a cultural amenity for the LGBTQ+ community based on a 10–25-year lease of the space. The arches have the potential to accommodate a range of uses, from performances to cultural gatherings, workshops and events – but not a late-night license.
The Request for Proposals (RfP) will run for a three-month period, concluding on 13th October 2023. Interested applicants can request information and site visits from here.
The space will be prepared to shell and core ready for handover to the occupier for fit-out by the end of 2023.
Update – deadline extended to Monday 20th November 2023.
It’s great to see more spaces to come together and socialise for queer people, especially so many, like the historic joiners arms, are being destroyed.
The link to the website doesn’t work unfortunately 🙁
Yes, please may we have a functioning link?
Maybe this was the link?
http://banksidelgbtq.co.uk