Your New Town Hall, London Borough of Lambeth for Muse and Lambeth Council, with Cartwright Pickard

Your New Town Hall in Brixton has two parcels with a combined 1.68 hectare area. The £68 million scheme to refurbish the town hall includes restoration of the historic Ivor House; a new 11,000sqm civic hub; 1,200sqm new Lambeth Council offices and archive space, and 194 new homes of which 40% are affordable.

Who is on the project team? (designer, consultants, etc)

Partner: London Borough of Lambeth

Architect: Cartwright Pickard

MEPH Engineers: (Phase 1) Chapman BDSP (Phase 2) Cudd Bentley

Structural Engineer: Curtins

CA & QS: AtkinsRéalis

Planning Consultant: Turley

Contractors: Galliford Try (Hambrook House), Morgan Sindall (Town Hall & Ivor House) & McAleer & Rushe (Brixton Hill Project / Brixton Centric)

Describe the context of this project, its neighbourhood and people.

In 2023, nationwide placemaker Muse reached the end of a nine-year programme of placemaking and regeneration in the heart of Brixton. The ‘Your New Town Hall’ project has created new homes, protected iconic local architecture, and provided modern, multifunctional spaces, saving the London Borough of Lambeth £4.5 million per year. The overall project has spanned five sites on Brixton Hill and Acre Lane, incorporating a wide range of new build and refurbishment techniques. This included building a civic centre, refurbishing the Grade II listed town hall, creating private and affordable homes, opening new community, medical and retail facilities. Since it started, Your New Town Hall has delivered 194 new homes across three plots. 40% of all these homes are affordable, providing a valuable boost to Brixton’s housing capacity. It also included delivering a 120,000 sq ft BREEAM Excellent Civic Centre. Also, a new Borough Archive and Council offices have been opened totaling 13,513 sq ft, new landscaped areas and a major cycle hub with changing and shower facilities. Thanks to the regeneration, residents of these homes can enjoy a wide range of facilities and amenities, as well as nearby commercial areas and improved local council services. 

How has this place adapted, and how does it continue to adapt, to changing demographics, behaviors, market context, policy, transport habits and the climate crisis? What makes it resilient?

Overall, the Your New Town Hall project – and its introduction of 194 new homes – should help to alleviate the housing crisis across the area. To ensure the project was resilient and met the changing needs of its community, 40% of all homes are affordable. Sustainability sits at the heart of Your New Town Hall. Measures implemented resulted in a two-thirds reduction in carbon emissions from the council’s operational estate, these included: - Reduction of Council’s carbon footprint by 33% - 200m sq biodiverse green roof - Car free development (apart from 10 blue badge spaces) - PV panels to roof of Town Hall and Civic Centre - Energy centre on roof of Civic Centre delivering heating and power to 194 new homes. Reduce operational costs by £4.5 million per year. The project has secured the future of Grade II listed Edwardian landmark and maximized the retention of existing building fabric and embodied carbon. Refurbishment included new efficient servicing, secondary glazing improving thermal performance, LED lighting and sustainable urban drainage. Technical innovation was introduced to the atrium’s ‘smart façade’ curtain walling which has seen the first use of SageGlass with VS1 in the UK. It is an intelligent solar control glazing system which is a maintenance-free alternative to blinds or shades.

Please share any data or evidence about the social, economic and environmental performance of this place, or any relevant figures such as footfall, visitors, engagement metrics, residents, etc

One key aim was to make the Town Hall more accessible and increase public use of the building. Now, the public can book meeting rooms and display material in the reception and new public courtyard, putting the public at the heart of the project. The creation of an Enterprise Centre provides meeting and office space for local start-ups and small businesses. The Assembly Hall has been transformed to provide bookable space for community events such as drama, fitness classes and exhibitions. Accessibility has been greatly improved, achieved with a new level-access courtyard and entrance to reception, alongside the addition of two new external glass lifts servicing all floors. A Changing Places Facility has been incorporated to serve wider public needs. 250,000 people cannot use standard accessible toilets in the UK and inclusion of this facility shows Lambeth’s commitment to inclusivity. During the refurbishment 2,598 people worked on the site and 11% of these were local. The project provided an excellent training and employment opportunity. 28 apprentices and seven unemployed local residents worked on the project, with two 14-16 year-old school children each given one-week of work experience. Two year-out students have worked throughout the whole project, with a further undergraduate given a three-month summer placement. “Everyone I have spoken to loves their new working environment.” said Ike Ijeh at Building Magazine, “They have now moved to either the Town Hall or the Civic Centre: both feel much more modern, light and airy, and are a much better place to work.”