Peckham Rye Station London Renovation

Building Regeneration at Peckham Rye

Project Strategic CHALLENGES

Project SYN0PSIS

This project was nominated for an RICS award for building regeneration

It was once considered to be one of the grandest station waiting rooms in South London, but for decades the space at Peckham Rye railway station was bricked up and forgotten about. Hidden from the public for over 50 years, Steadline were employed to complete staircase work and provide direct access to the waiting room from ground level. This includes making repairs to windows and doors, opening up and reconstruction of floor areas utilising existing retained materials to ensure authenticity is maintained. Married to this is the construction and installation of an ultra-modern polished steel staircase to complement the existing Victorian cast iron & stone staircase. Also includes repairs to the existing stonework and ironwork to the Victorian staircase. Re-construction of the lathe and plaster ceilings all built with traditional chestnut lathes and lime mortar plasterwork. Replacement of the slate fire surround to match that found in the East Wing.

The adaptation to the staircase presented the biggest challenge to the design team. To avoid bearing off York stone landings, the new staircase is supported from an additional beam installed at the new landing level and supporting cleats pocketed into the walls.

For this project we recognised quickly that our supply chain needed to be sympathetic with the historical integrity of the building and as well as to accept the high level of local interest the scheme attracted. Their work would be under a similar level as scrutiny for their workmanship as well as design interpretation that was an absolute priority for this scheme. Whilst the staircase construction was being completed, the Architect wished to visit the workshop many times in order to satisfy himself that the end result was as intended, and so it proved to be correctly sourced from a local steel fabricator, who was able to comply with all the directions given from the Architect and added the necessary value to the scheme.

This phase of the planned works was completed in early November 17 thus making it possible for the public to access the waiting room directly from outside the station.