Mixed-use repurposing of a redundant office to provide 283 student beds, alongside 35% onsite social housing and a rich mix of uses designed to bring benefit to the community and nature

182–202 Walworth Road is the re-purposing of a largelyderelict, 1980s office building on an urban high-street, into a sustainable, mixed-use, PBSA-led development, with community and nature at its heart.

The 134,000 sq ft scheme delivers 283 student beds and 35% on-site social-rent homes, alongside a rich mix of uses, centred on community, food and nature - demonstrating student accommodation can meaningfully address the needs of local people and the natural environment, not just student residents.

The dramatic remodelling and re-greening transforms a 60m-long, unloved eyesore, on the intersection between the high-rise town centre redevelopment of Elephant and Castle, and the lower-rise, historic, high-street condition of the Walworth Road.

Designed through deep local engagement, the project is notable for dedicating the ground floor to community and public-facing uses, almost in its entirety:
— A former service-yard transformed into a 6,240 sq ft community courtyard garden, providing green respite for all from the busy high-street;
— A new pedestrian route across the site, transforming the permeability of the large urban block and providing welcoming access to the courtyard garden;
— 5,112 sq ft of high-street retail, driving footfall;
— A 2,626 sq ft innovative Community Kitchen, delivered in partnership with a local charity, designed to forge connections between Walworth’s new and existing communities.

The project takes a reuse-first approach to remodel the existing 45,000 sq ft, three-storey U-shaped building, reusing the concrete structural frame of the main building fronting the Walworth Road to support three new floors above, and adding new wings either side to replace poorly constructed steel-frame, light industrial units.

The student accommodation is arranged across first floor and above, with a mix of clusters, studios and shared amenity. 35% new on-site affordable homes - all for social rent - are in a separately-expressed adjoining building. All 23 homes have their own south-facing balconies and access to a shared garden.