Details
Location: London
Brick Manufacturers: Ibstock PLC / Wienerberger Limited
Brick Names: Swanage Restoration Red, Swanage Light, London White, Buff, Atlas Blue / Forum White
Architect: Benedict O'Looney Architects
Brickwork Contractor: Stone & Brick Construction Ltd
About the project
Findlater’s Corner / The London Bridge Island is one of the most remarkable groups of railway arches in London. It is situated in the heart of Old Southwark at the south end of London Bridge, beside Southwark Cathedral.
This project restores a set of 4 railway arches, each with unique plan forms, set under the Victorian railway viaduct that curves around Southwark Cathedral and above Borough Market and Borough High Street. The site is the principal ‘gateway’ into Southwark since the development of London in the Roman period.
These arches have been closed for a decade, last used as a wine shop, a restaurant and a betting shop. Although shabby and boarded up in recent years, these arches had a glittering past. This project sets out to restore the arches bring them back into use and reveal this site’s unique history.
The north side, Findlater’s Corner, focusses on the restoration of the Baroque-Revival glazed terracotta shop surround. This Edwardian Beaux Arts landmark overlays an earlier Victorian stucco frontage, built in conjunction with the brick railway viaduct in 1863. Our design aims to showcase these two architectural schemes, 1863 and 1900, one overlaying the other.
Our research and discovery of the original Victorian paint scheme informs the restored stucco elevation with its distinctive poster panel mouldings picked out in earth red-toned paint. A new oak shopfront to Findlater’s Corner references the lost Edwardian shop design. The glazed brick stall risers gently echo the Doulton’s ceramic shop facade. The glazed bricks and chequer board quarry tiled porches take inspiration from English shopfront design in the 1910s and 1920s.
The south elevation facing Guildable Manor Street, and the attractive Thames Link viaduct, is handled in a more modern way. To the south side we designed bold stripy brickwork topped with fiery red louvres to brighten and enliven the public route from Borough Market up to London Bridge Station. Bold colours and energetic detailing meet the confident civil engineering of the Victorian and modern railway viaducts.
The polychrome brickwork (there are six different types of brick used on this project) takes inspiration from Borough, Bermondsey and London Bridge Station’s fabulous Victorian brick architecture. The carefully designed oak joinery, with its stop chamfered detailing, derives from 19th century timber design. The brick types are Swanage 'Restoration Red', Ibstock Swanage 'Light', Ibstock Bricks Colour Select Range: 'London White' and 'Buff', Ibstock 'Atlas Blue' Engineering Bricks, and Wienerberger 'Forum White' bricks.
Sponsored by Northcot Brick
