The Borough of Southwark includes many of London’s most evocative historic townscapes. Its origins are pre-Roman and its urban form owes much to mediaeval and Elizabethan development. Scenes from Dickens’ novels and essays relate to Borough and Bermondsey along the Thames from London Bridge to Rotherhithe, while areas of Camberwell and Peckham are fine examples of the early development of London’s southern suburbs, stimulated by the construction of new Thames bridge crossings.
Conservation Areas were designated throughout the Borough in the 1970s and 80s, and studio | REAL were commissioned to prepare appraisals for ten of the areas to assist development control. Pressure for new development has steadily increased, and clear analysis of the special character and quality of the conservation areas is necessary to explain and justify the conservation designations. At the same time, a particular concern was the need to allow regeneration in the Conservation Areas while encouraging the highest standards of design wherever new development is necessary. Some of the capital’s best modern architecture has now been successfully introduced into 19th Century warehouse areas on the riverside, and the standards of well-known urban attractions, such as Borough Market, have greatly improved.
Client
London Borough of Southwark
Scope
Conservation Area Appraisal
Location
Central London
Status
Completed 2003
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