Walworth Town Hall, a Victorian landmark opened in 1894, was badly damaged by a fire in 2013. Architects Feix & Merlin have modernised the Grade-II listed building, blending period features with contemporary amenities to create a vibrant community hub. The site now includes flexible offices, coworking desks, and public spaces accessible to everyone.

Reviving a Victorian Landmark

Walworth Town Hall the Victorian landmark, opened in 1894. Sadly, the Grade-II listed – building was badly damaged by a fire in 2013. This sensitive modernisation project designed by architects Feix & Merlin for developer General Projects has now brought the much-cherished community hub back to life.

Modern heritage space

The 4,645 m²/50,000 sq ft site encompasses the former town hall, Newington Library, and Cuming Museum. These spaces, including various halls and rooms, have been redesigned for public use, combining period features with contemporary amenities. The site can accommodate around 550 workers, offering flexible offices and coworking desks for independent and creative businesses.

A community centre, café, and restaurant are in the central lobby, make Walworth Town Hall accessible to everyone, not just the office workers. The redesigned interiors, including the grand staircase and refurbished ground floor entrance onto Walworth Square, are for everyone to enjoy.

Mass timber application

On behalf of Conamar Building Services, and the client General Projects, Stora Enso have supplied Sylva™ CLT Floors to our partner B&K Structures, who have worked closely with Heyne Tillett Steel and Feix & Merlin Architects to carefully restore the original features of the Town Hall prefabricated cross-laminated timber (CLT) to replace the damaged sections of the building. Some areas, such as the former council chamber, which experienced irreversible fire and water damage, had to be entirely reconstructed.

New vertical extensions and roofs utilised Sylva™ CLT Floors and Roofs by Stora Enso and the provision of a new lift core further modernised the building and providing improved accessibility.

Carbon footprint

The Sylva CLT elements generated 18 tonnes of greenhouse gases (CO₂e) to manufacture and 10 tonnes of CO₂e to transport. Compared to the 256 tonnes of carbon dioxide that the trees removed while growing and will store in the building, this is a small fraction. Choosing Sylva CLT elements instead of non-renewables avoided 384 tonnes of greenhouse gases. (Source: Stora Enso Carbon Calculator. Try it out and see what how small the carbon footprint of your project would be too).

Learn more about the advantages with mass timber Download the whitepaper

Publications

Walworth Town Hall gets a new lease of life | Wallpaper

Feix & Merlin restores Walworth Town Hall as community hub | Architects Journal

Walworth Town Hall | Architecture Today