Erith’s old town hall is set to become artists’ studios under plans filed with Bexley Council.
Bow Arts Trust says its plans would create a “sustainable creative and community hub”.
The charity, which runs studios across London including at the Lakeside Centre in Thamesmead, says its plans would help protect the 1930s building from vandalism by including two live-work spaces for property guardians.
Before 1965 the building served as the town hall for the old Erith municipal council, and until 1980 it was the home of Bexley Council. It was used as council offices before being offered as a filming location in recent years.
Another old municipal building nearby, Erith’s former library, is now The Exchange, an arts and crafts centre.
Bow Arts believes it does not need planning permission to convert the building into studios, but has applied for a certificate that would confirm it can include two flats.
The property guardians would share a joint corridor, toilet, washing facilities and kitchen.
It hopes to attract a “substantial community of artists, designers, and makers”, adding that it expects the building to fill to 80 per cent capacity over its first two years.
Most of Bow Arts’ other studios are in east London, but it also has a base at Catford Dek, in the Old Town Hall, where Goldsmiths University will be opening a campus next year.
The application can be seen on Bexley Council’s planning website.
Cameron Blackshaw is the Local Democracy Reporter for Greenwich and Bexley. The Greenwich Wire is a partner in the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which is a BBC-funded initiative to ensure councils are covered properly in local media.
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