Elephant and Castle

In 2022 we started a project to bring Walworth Town Hall and Newington Library back into use. We chose General Projects and Feix&Merlin to work in partnership with us.

Plans for the town hall included:

• a mix of flexible studio and workspaces for start-ups and small businesses
• a café 
• a community space
• public access to central areas like the former council chambers on at least 12 days per year 

A board was set up to choose an operator for the community space who would manage events and activities.

Background

In June 2017, the Cabinet had agreed a revised project for the Walworth Town Hall. We asked for expressions of interest for arts and culture uses in the building. The public consultation highlighted the need to:

• keep public access to the site 
• protect the rich heritage of the buildings 

General Projects successfully bid for the Walworth Town Hall project in 2019. 

View the cabinet report and decision 

Initially, we set aside £20 million to refurbish the town hall. But when we expanded the project to include the old Newington Library and assessed the building's condition, the costs rose to between £36-£40 million.

We also realised that we did not need the entire building complex for its services. Given the budget constraints and other funding needs, we decided not to proceed with the project as originally planned.