The conversion of Bromley Old Town Hall demonstrates how two listed civic buildings, long in decline, can be brought back into active use through careful structural retention, targeted repair and sensitive adaptation.
The site comprises two separate buildings: the first constructed in 1906, with a period stone staircase and ornate plaster features; the second built in 1939 in art deco style, with a Cold War nuclear bunker in the basement. Both had been added to Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register in 2009.
The conversion to 73,000 square feet of shared office space, member’s lounge, restaurant and boutique hotel required interventions to be carefully targeted. Period features – stained glass windows, cornices, plastered domes and the ornate stone staircase – were retained and restored throughout. Repairs were carried out to the red-brick façade and the roof space was extended without altering the hipped pitched slate roof and its central timber cupola. In the 1939 building, a large loft space was converted to provide additional office accommodation.
In the basement, the 600mm concrete slab within the nuclear bunker was retained as far as possible, with drainage set into rather than through the existing material – reducing the carbon impact of the works by avoiding unnecessary demolition and disposal of existing concrete. A new two-storey, 23-bed boutique hotel was constructed over the 1906 building using a steel frame designed to bear on the existing structure without requiring it to be further strengthened.
Following completion, both buildings were removed from the Heritage at Risk Register. The project was shortlisted for an AJ Architecture Award, a Civic Trust Award and a RIBA London Award.
Structural Engineer: Mason Navarro Pledge
Photography: Marcus Quigley