164 Deptford High Street, London

London Borough of Lewisham, SE8

This project is one of a series designed by the practice in Deptford with two specific aims; to attract activity back to the High Street by providing low-cost flats and workshops; and to repair the decaying yet historic character of the street by filling important sites with sensitively designed buildings.

164 Deptford High Street is a new-build mixed-use scheme of residential and workshop units.

This prominent development is located at the entry to the churchyard close to Thomas Archer’s celebrated eighteenth-century English Baroque church of St. Paul’s, Deptford.

The project introduced the idea of classical form and a classical vocabulary of details to relate to the traditions both of the church and of London street architecture.

Stairs from the pavement lead up to a first floor terrace overlooking the churchyard from which the residential units are accessed. A clerestory gives light to the ground floor workshops, entered from the street on the opposite side of the building.

The project was reviewed in a feature article in ‘The Architects’ Journal’.

Client: First Premise Ltd