TDO has been appointed by the Low Line steering group to develop and implement creative solutions for the adaptive reuse of railway arches occupied by Business Improvement District Better Bankside and other Low Line partners, along the Low Line in Southwark, London.

The project will see the adaption of four empty arches which have been selected as ‘test bed’ sites in Bankside and Bermondsey for a range of uses.

The Low Line is a network of creative and cultural nodes that follows the Victorian railway viaducts running through Bankside, London Bridge and Bermondsey. The project was developed by a group of initial partners, including Better Bankside, Blue Bermondsey, Borough Market, Team London Bridge, The Arch Company and Southwark Council, who are steering the initial scoping, planning and communication of this commission.

The brief calls for exemplar solutions that are cost-efficient, sustainable, repeatable and potentially demountable and transferable.

The adaptability of these solutions is essential in supporting changing requirements in the current climate, and future uses in a post Covid-19 society.

As spaces are used in new ways, the ambition is for these practical design solutions to retain and celebrate the historic character of the arches, while providing a benchmark for the regeneration of other arches in the future.

The four selected arches that TDO has been appointed to refurbish represent two typologies:

spaces which require internal division to achieve distinct accommodation zones, e.g. workspace, lettable space, meeting space, storage, recreation, catering or washroom, which will be flexibly configured to allow them to evolve with changing user requirements over time;

and voids which can host a variety of uses, including theatre, film, dance, exercise, and food and beverage.

The Bankside locations are Ewer Street and Redcross Way, and the Bermondsey site is on Blue Anchor Lane

The Low Line activates the potential of the railway viaduct as a route connecting communities and places, and as an important component of the public realm, providing a framework around which people, culture and business can thrive.