Two London Bridge railway arches that used to house a celebrated London nightclub are being renovated to provide space for businesses.
Developer The Arch Company will inject £1.5 million into the refurbishment of the disused arches on Crucifix Lane that were once home to Happy Jacks nightclub.
Built between 1864 and 1866, they were designed by Charles Henry Driver, the prominent Victorian architect behind famous sites including the recently restored Peckham Rye Station.
Happy Jacks operated from the arches for over twenty years, hosting The Chemical Brothers’ first show in 1994.
The space was vacated in 2015 to allow for the London Bridge Station expansion and never reoccupied.
The Arch Company will now begin the “sympathetic restoration” of the arches’ facades, noteworthy for their Victorian features including multi-coloured brick patterns and elaborate stone carvings.
The arches will be offered to businesses including restaurants, cafes, bars, and leisure businesses looking to contribute to the local community.
The redevelopment is part of The Arch Company’s £200m development plan, Project 1000, which aims to bring a thousand empty or derelict spaces into use across England and Wales by 2030.
The Arch Company are backed by US private equity firm, Blackstone, and Telereal Trillium, a UK-based property developer.
In 2018 the partners bought thousands of railway arches from Network Rail in a deal worth £1.5bn.