City Rooms

Site Analysis

Arrival

The DLR drops you off over the busy Deptford bridge. Around you are a mess of buildings and cars. Lewisham college has large and unfriendly buildings on the north side of the bridge, on the south side a large new OneSE8 development of “luxury flats” is being constructed. Deptford bridge crosses the Ravensbourne river just before it becomes the Deptford Creek a couple of meters further downstream. The Ravensbourne is at this location a deep concrete cut in the land with some water at the bottom. The collection of buildings that make up the Seager Distillery sits south of Deptford Bridge and west of the Ravensbourne. From the DLR stop the distillery shows its most mountainous side. Just south of the distillery a ill maintained sports field open of the city before the carpet of small scale terraced housing starts climbing the slight hill. Eventually the Ravensbourne turns from cut in the land to a wide flood ditch, which is filled with shopping trolleys.

Vitality

The market on Deptford High Street is lively and appears to be the center of activity. The areas used by Lewisham College are hostile wastelands seen through security fences and the few buildings that sit onto the street are hostile and fortress like. On the Distillery site there are a variety of uses including car mechanics, spaces for worship, art galleries, a BME organization, screen printers and furniture shops.

The bus stop on Brookmill Road is fairly active and people filter down the hill towards the DLR and the shops. The grassy area with remnants of a tennis courts south of the distillery is used mainly by grafitti artists who constantly repaint the wall of the distillery. I have occasionally seen someone kicking a ball against the failing fencing or bouncing it against one of the more even areas of ashfalt. Since there are no football goals nor basketball hoops they quickly loose interest.

Industry

There used to be many mills along the Ravensbourne river and the Deptford creek, now there is only one left standing. The Mumford's Granary (1897) designed by Sir Aston Webb. It is a magnificent building on the edge of the creek. The silo with its round windows has an enormous presence but is being converted into “luxury flats”.

Change

OneSE8

This new development is connected to Canary Warf via an umbilical cord like DLR. It appear to have nothing to do with the city around it. It is as if it wanted to, but could not quite, join with the DLR and make the stop its only entrance. OneSE8 won St James Homes a commendation for Best Housing Project of the Year at the 2004 National Homebuilder Design Awards. The most striking thing about the development is its advertising. The emphasis is placed on the facilities rather that the flats. There is for instance the A team that will help you with problems such as “finding a holiday home for Christmas complete with swimming pool sauna, the works...”.

Seager

John McAslan + Partners have proposed a 26 story tower on the site of the former brewery. This tower will give OneSE8 some company but the onslaught of one bed flats for £185.000 will surely put some strain on the DLR.

[DLR]: Docklands Light Railway [BME]: Black Minority Ethnic