• Tower Hamlets signs £36m deal with Guildmore to transform Poplar Baths
• Estimated 100s new jobs to be created
• 100 new homes to be built
• Guildmore to construct a state-of-the-art leisure development at Poplar Baths

 

On 26 June 2014, Tower Hamlets council signed a £36m deal with Guildmore to transform Poplar Baths and Haileybury Youth Centre with Dame Colet, into the East End’s newest leisure centre and housing development. The result will bring new facilities for the community as well as a much needed housing development plus powerful investment into Tower Hamlets.

Guildmore will ensure the £36 million leisure facility development retains any attractive historic architectural features of Tower Hamlet’s Victorian public baths. At the same time, Guildmore will build 100 new homes between the two sites. And a new youth centre at Dame Colet will bring a welcome space for the youth of the local community to call their own.

The project will see the restoration of Poplar Baths – the Grade II listed building and former swimming pool opposite Chrisp Street market – designed by Pringle Richards Sharratt Architects giving an additional 60 new council homes designed by CZWG Architects at this site. It will also see the development of Dame Colet House – a former housing block which is no longer in use – with CZWG & Steven Bradbury Architectsand nearby Haileybury Youth Centre in Stepney, also with Pringle Richards Sharratt.

Poplar Baths – a colourful past and an even brighter future

Opening in 1852, costing £10,000 and built to provide public wash facilities for the East End’s poor as a result of the Baths and Washhouses Act 1846, Poplar Baths has undergone an interesting series of changes.

Originally the ‘slipper baths’ section originally contained six baths for women in each division, 12 in the men’s first-class section and 24 in the second-class. The steam and shower bath areas were behind the slipper baths and the laundry was at the rear of the building, on Arthur Street. The laundry contained 48 separate wooden washing tubs, drying equipment, ironing rooms and the uncovered water tank, erected over the boiler house, had a capacity of 24,000 gallons.

Later the baths were rebuilt in 1933. The larger pool was floored over, designated the East India Hall and converted to a theatre with a seating capacity of 1,400, with a dance hall, cinema, exhibition room and sports hall, for boxing and wrestling programmes. This kept the hall active in the winter months, while the smaller pool remained in use.

At the end of the war, from 1938 until 1941, the office was used by the staff of the Borough’s electricity office, and then later occupied by the Transport and General Workers Union and the Poplar Labour Party. Wartime bomb damage forced the closure of the main bath hall, which remained unglazed for several years. Poplar Baths reopened in 1947 and continued to be used as a swimming facility until 1988, when it was turned into an industrial training centre. Between 1954 and 1959, the baths were used by an average of 225,700 bathers each year.

Now the local council has selected Guildmore to restore this Grade II listed building to its former glory with a stylish and modern sports facility, which includes a new 25-metre swimming pool.

English Heritage officials have already commented that they are very happy with how the project is going and that it is one of the best developments they’ve seen.

Work starts in July 2014

Final site preparations have already started in readiness for construction to commence in July ’14. Hoardings have been erected for the affordable housing construction project in Lawless Street. During the construction period Grove Villas and Lawless Street will be closed for pedestrian access.

“This is a significant investment deal for London and will boost employment and growth in the borough. I am delighted that Tower Hamlets are investing in the local community and providing homes, jobs and leisure facilities to young and old in the area”. Said Engin Ertosun, Managing Director, Guildmore.

“A great place to live’

These new homes and the regenerated baths facility will assist in meeting the council’s vision of ‘A great place to live’. This reflects London Borough of Tower Hamlet’s continuing ambition to make the Borough a place where people are ‘proud to live, work and study’.

Guildmore are working closely with the Tower Hamlets council to achieve quality affordable housing, set in a clean and safe neighbourhood, served by well-connected travel facilities and within easy access of services and community facilities. The East End is looking forward to the results.

For more info, visit: http://www.poplarbathsanddamecolet.co.uk/

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