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Elephant and Castle

Elephant Arcade

The council has recently determined a planning application for the redevelopment of the Elephant and Castle shopping centre. In order to manage the impact of the construction of the new town centre for the Elephant and Castle, a Cabinet report on the 9 May 2017 set out a variety of potential mitigation projects, including the potential to accommodate some convenience stores in the un-used garage space at the base of Perronet House adjacent to the St George’s Pharmacy.

Where is the arcade

The garages beneath Perronet House are split into two areas north (garages numbers 1 to 50) and south (garage numbers 51 to 67). The northern area is in use with 29 garages let to residents within Perronet House and the remainder either let to residents external to Perronet House or are void awaiting repairs. The southern garages were previously partially let to the Princess Street medical practice but were closed for safety reasons. Part of this space has recently been converted into the St George’s pharmacy which serves the local community.

This project has converted 12 un-used parking spaces in the closed southern garage area into 11 retail units with an entrance to the retail space would be from the east side diagonally opposite the Bakerloo line station. The objectives of the project are:

  • provide local convenience shops for local residents
  • provide affordable space for local independent businesses
  • improve the street frontage and natural surveillance around the southern base of Perronet House to reduce anti-social behaviour and rough sleeping

How did we consult you on the designs

  • we held two drop in events in the office space at 91 Perronet House in September 2017
  • we set up a project webpage so that people could download the plans easily
  • we displayed the consultation boards (PDF, 4.1mb) and model at Unit 231 of the Elephant and Castle shopping centre from 14 September to 6 October 2017
  • we wrote to all of the residents in Perronet House on 18 August 2017 and 14 September 2017 to advertise the drop in events, the project webpage, and the plans displayed at Unit 231
  • we displayed the consultation boards (PDF, 4.1mb) in the lobby at Perronet House but were asked to remove these by a resident due to a perceived fire risk and so put up posters summarising the project and directing residents to the project website
  • we organised a briefing for the Elephant and Castle shopping centre independent traders on the 2 October 2017
  • we have organised a number of tours with the tenants of the shopping centre to visit the site

What comments were made and how were they addressed

A full summary (PDF, 28kb) of all of the comments made during the consultation can be downloaded. The following actions were taken in light of the comments made during the consultation:

  • the rear access to the site was removed with public access from Elephant Square only
  • an operator has been appointed to manage the space to ensure the quality of the retail offer is well maintained with business support for local traders. The operator will ensure the arcade is maintained to a high standard and will act as a single point of contact for any resident issues
  • the layout of the units has been amended to provide a central circulation space similar to Tiendas Del Sur
  • an internal meeting with the council's garages team has been organised to investigate the scope to bring void garages in northern garages area back into use. So far four of the ten void garages have been repaired and will be offered to residents on the waiting list

The design was amended to accommodate the changes above and a planning application was granted by planning committee in July 2018. If you'd like to view the approved plans, visit the council’s planning portal and insert planning application reference 17/AP/4651.

Construction

The works to convert the garage space into shops commenced in March 2019 and were completed in July 2019, with final utility connections to be made in early 2020.

Retail operator

After a tender exercise, the council has appointed an operator for the arcade called Meanwhile Space - they're a community interest company who are passionate about working with the community and supporting small independent businesses. They have experience of managing a number of similar projects across London and this will be a permanent venture for them.

Come and visit

The arcade was formally opened by Councillors on 14 October 2020. Please come and visit the arcade to meet the traders and take advantage of their local services which include a café, fruit juice bar, hairdresser, supermarket, computer repair, tailor, and a range of fashion and convenience retailers. View our brochure (PDF, 3.8mb) for more information about the range of services on offer.

Contact

Dan Taylor
Programme manager
020 7525 5450

Page last updated: 11 April 2024

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