The Department Store – Brixton

Constructing a timber frame on a roof in central London

Building on top of a three storey building in central London presented some logistical challenges. From start to finish, this was carefully planned by the Carpenter Oak team. A crawler crane was dismantled, hoisted up to the roof, then reassembled.

The rooftop crane hoisted the 50 tonnes of components. The site installation was undertaken by the CO team. This included oak colonnades and a dragon beam roof with the six metre diameter room lanterns.

A stunning space deserves a striking finish

In 2015, Squire and Partners, a large architectural practice in London, purchased a dilapidated Edwardian building. Originally built by a South London businessman in 1876, it was the first purpose-built department store in the UK and the UK’s first steel frame building.

The building has had a varied life, including being used as an air raid shelter during the second world war. It continued to trade as department store ‘Bon Marche’ up until 1981, after which it slowly declined, and was declared derelict.

The building enjoyed a brief new lease of life in the 80s as part of the regeneration of Brixton Town Centre. Now thoroughly revived, it is home to the 220-strong Squire and Partners team, having been strikingly transformed into a creative hub which expertly showcases the building’s artistic and structural historic features. Every space tells a story and honours the past of this reinvigorated, buzzing building.