At Haggerston Baths, a Grade II listed former bathhouse in the London Borough of Hackney, we developed a feasibility study that acted as the winning bid in securing the lease for the building’s redevelopment for client Castleforge.

When Haggerston Baths closed its doors in 2000, the building was left disused and derelict, and the local community lost a valuable asset. Hackney Council launched an expression of interest for developers to restore the building and bring it back into public use. Castleforge subsequently approached us to help them develop a feasibility study and competitive bid to put forward to the public and the Council.

The council was keen to ensure that the use of the building was supported by the local community, and we therefore undertook extensive public consultation. The resulting scheme proposed a unique destination hub, combining commercial offices, studios and workshop spaces, retail shops and “pop ups”, cafes and food areas, and community and exhibition spaces. When delivered, it would provide an exceptional resource for the community in Hackney, one of London’s fastest changing boroughs.

A key driver behind the proposal was to provide a positive community environment whilst giving careful consideration to the physical interaction between spaces, and remaining respectful to the heritage of the original building. We therefore focused our engagement on where it mattered most to meet this goal; working with Heritage Consultant John Martin Robinson and Historic England to ensure that the heritage was properly respected, and undertaking multiple phases of community consultation and engagement to ensure that local councillors and residents supported the uses being proposed.

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