Towards a Brixton Central ‘masterplan’
The Brixton Central area includes the station, Brixton Station Road, Atlantic Road and the land between the viaducts (see map). It’s identified as a major area for investment in the Brixton SPD. Local people are now helping set out proposals for the long-term future of this part of the town centre.
We recently set out some proposals and asked for your feed back. You can read about the proposals here and we’ll report back on what you said and the next steps in the next few weeks.
Who is involved?
The two major landowners, Lambeth Council and Network Rail, have jointly appointed AECOM and Fluid Architects to work with local people to produce a masterplan development brief for Brixton Central. This will guide investment in the area, setting out the type and scale of development that is acceptable.
You can read more about the background to the project on the board below.
Working together
Local people have helped to draft the proposals so far – through one-to-one meetings, group sessions and workshops. These included discussions with students from Evelyn Grace Academy.
We held two workshops with the Community Reference Group to develop the proposals.
In the first workshop they looked at different types of town centre activities, alongside their potential commercial viability and community benefit. Spaces for creative industries, tech companies and business start-ups ranked highly.
In the second workshop they discussed where these activities could go in Brixton Central – for instance the former ice rink site, International House, or the land between the viaducts.
You can read more about how we worked together in the summary report here and in the exhibition boards below.
The opportunities
Based on these discussions we came up with two potential scenarios (scenario A and scenario B). We asked people to read through this presentation and let us know what they thought by completing a short questionnaire. This was not a question of either or, rather we wanted to know what you liked or didn’t like about each of them.
A very brief overview is provided in the text below.
Scenario A
This is focused on bringing forward more studios and workspace, as well as spaces for the community to come together, including an outdoor space events and relaxation.
It also provides space for new cultural, leisure, learning and community activity, as well as basement parking for market traders and public use.
New homes are proposed on the former ice rink site, International House, above the station and the upper storeys between the viaducts. New shops are proposed on the ground floor between the viaducts and on the former ice rink site facing Brixton Station Road.
Scenario B
This is focused on extending the indoor markets between the viaducts, with a mix of retail opportunities. Studios and workspace are provided on the upper floors as well as on Pope’s Road and in a refurbished International House.
A new public square is proposed on Pope’s Road, fronting onto a new train station entrance and there is a hotel above the refurbished train station. A car park is also provided as part of a new development.
New homes are proposed on the upper storeys of the former ice rink site and between the viaducts, as well as on Pope’s Road opposite the Rec. New shops are proposed on the ground floor of the former ice rink site facing Brixton Station Road.
Many opportunities are common to both, including:
- Potential to pedestrianize Atlantic Road during the day, with access for local buses.
- Potential to pedestrianize Pope’s Road
- New station entrance onto Pope’s Road
- To the north, the height of the development to be lower (about 6 storeys) to relate to surrounding buildings
- To the east, the arches on Brixton Station Road to be used for studios and workshops and an outdoor yard and units between the viaducts for market storage, workshops and light industry
We want to know what you like and don’t like about these scenarios. Which elements do you prefer? Please view the presentation before completing the questionnaire here.
Emerging development principles
A number of principles (or priorities) have come out of the discussions we’ve had with local people. These are:
- Affordable housing
- Local jobs
- Affordable workspace and retail
- A refurbished and improved railway station
- New public realm
- A sustainable mix of retail and employment space
- Town centre car parking
- Culture and community
- Local energy network
- Enhancing the Rec
- A London Overground station
- Continued community involvement
We want to know which of these you like or don’t like. If you had to prioritise four of them which would be your favourites?
What other community benefits could there be?
Please view the presentation and then complete the questionnaire here. The full exhibition is also available to look at here.
Your help and next steps
During July we held a community reference group workshop, pop-up stalls around Brixton town centre and a drop-in exhibition. Hundreds of people have come and talked to us about Brixton Central at the pop-up stalls we held in Brixton Market, Windrush Square and Brixton Village. People were also asked to complete a short online survey.
Your views are important and we’ll use all the feedback to produce a draft Brixton Central masterplan that we’ll publish in the Autumn. At this time we aim to hold a further reference group meeting and another drop-in exhibition. Any feedback at this stage will be responded to in the final masterplan report, expected later in the Autumn.
Read more about delivery and next steps below
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14 August 2014 at 8:40 am
Comments on the masterplan.
Car parking
This is a repeatedly hot topic, but do we know why are people are parking in Brixton / wanting to park in Brixton? What proportion are/have:
• Too much shopping to carry - even in a trolley?
• Disabled?
• Buying something too heavy or too large to carry or take on the bus?
• Bus doesn’t go near their home?
• Can’t easily bring children on the bus?
• Unwilling to take the bus?
Of these, the first 5 do seem reasonable for wanting car parking. To address some of them (i.e. reduce the amount of car parking required), could the council offer a local delivery scheme? Delivery from local businesses to local residents - could be pre-arranged or ad hoc. Ideally same day. Customer pays a small fee - equivalent to what they would pay in car parking fees e.g. 2 pounds or so. This could be arranged with local businesses.
Presumably one potential problem of providing more car parking is that it encourages people to use a car when they don’t really need to, and so the demand keeps growing?
The Rec
Caricaturing the discussion so far:
Council: The Rec has some problems, maybe we should knock it down and build a new one.
Public: We love the Rec
Council: Oh ok, we won’t knock it down, instead we’ll refurbish it at great cost.
My take on this (I expect shared by others?) is that the Rec was proposed to be taken away, but without a clear idea of what it would be replaced with. Since the majority of leisure centres are not as large, grand and architecturally unusual as the Rec, the concern would be that it’s replacement would be not as ‘good’ as what we have now. IF the current building has such structural problems and poor energy efficiency that Brixton could get a ‘better’ replacement for the same cost of refurbishing the existing one, then it seems odd to refurbish it. But AFAIK, this discussion has not happened publicly? I’ve not seen documentation on what the fundamental problems with the Rec are, though they have been alluded to on several occasions. Are they publicly available?
As such, while the Rec is great and use it 3-4 times a week, I’ve not seen sufficient information to judge whether refurbishing or replacing is the most sensible option. I think we need to see more to help understand the pros and cons of the different options.
Central masterplan - Scenario A vs B
Car park
A - basement car park
B - multistory
Presumably the main difference here is car parking volume, and what the space could be used for if it wasn’t all car park. As per my first point above, what amount of car parking space is required? I believe one concern with the car park is crime - I walked past the old multi-story car park several times a day and wouldn’t have entered it without a SWAT team. I’m guessing that any kind of car park (i.e. a large dark space with few people, plenty of hiding places and valuables in) can attract crime - whether multi-story or basement - so what mitigations are planned to be put in place for any kind of car park? CCTV? Patrols? What works for car parks?
International house
A - Demolished and turned to residential with small commercial at bottom
B - Retained for ‘employment use’
I’m not sure what feedback a member of the public can give here. Which does Brixton need more - residential or ‘employment use’? Is International House sufficiently attractive for businesses?
Public square
A - Off pope’s road
B - Extends pope’s road
Don’t have a preference, though does one have greater maintenance implications? Brixton has a problem with cleanliness of the public areas so maybe the option which has less cleaning requirements would be best.
Markets
B appears to have quite a lot more ‘market’ than A
However, the distinction between ‘market’ and ‘retail and cafes’ is unclear, especially as the ‘new’ markets proposed appear to be in fixed units. As far as I can tell, all the current markets either sell items (retail) or food & drink (basically cafes), so what is the difference between market and retail/cafes?
There are a lot of markets in Brixton - can it sustain more? Or is it that if you provide more space then more people will come to use them? What kinds of markets are we talking about? How is this different to a shopping mall? Brixton village isn’t a shopping mall - but how is it different from that and what made it work? Was it the cheap rents? Was it chance? How can you recreate that success rather than end up with a shopping mall or ‘faux’ like the new Spitalfields market?
Workspace
Both A & B have quite a lot, they just put it in different places.
It is difficult to compare exactly the differences in quantity and ‘character’ of workspace provided based on these plans. For example one has workspace in the viaducts, the other in international house - but what would be the difference and what is it that is wanted?
Residential
Both A&B have quite a lot, they just put it in different places.
Don’t know enough to compare.
Hotel
Only mentioned in B.
What is the requirement here? If there is a demand then fine. What is the usage of the current hotels? There is a rumour that there will be a Travelodge on Coldharbour lane.