Coventry Scaffolding recently completed its work as part of a major refurbishment project at the Old Town Hall in Bromley. Restoration work on the building began in November 2019 and, despite disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, the extensive project was successfully completed last autumn. The site opened to the public in September 2022.
The project
Coventry was employed to design, supply, erect and dismantle an independent scaffold and temporary roofs, to provide safe access and weather protection for the tradesmen and women working at height. Due to the large scope of the project, thousands of feet of scaffold tube was required to facilitate the refurbishment work, as well as internal scaffolds, crash decks, hop ups and seven separate large temporary roofs, standing simultaneously.
The refurbishment work was completed with consideration to the existing period features of the building. Improvements included retaining and restoring the cornices, plastered domes and ornate stone staircase, as well as detailed repairs to the external façade, hipped pitched slate roofs and central cupola
History of Bromley Town Hall
The original Grade-II-listed building was first constructed in 1906, by architect R Frank Atkinson in a red brick Edwardian style. A second building was added in 1939 in an Art Deco design. During the Cold War in the 1980s, a nuclear bunker was built underneath the new building. Prior to its refurbishment, the site had sat empty and unused for over a decade. It was added to the Heritage Risk Register in 2009.
The Old Town Hall has a long and interesting history. It initially operated as headquarters for the Mayor of Bromley and local council and was later the home of Bromley College Business School. In March 1970, it hosted local legend, David Bowie’s wedding to his first wife, Angie and, more recently, it was used as a filming location for the Freddy Mercury biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody.
The newly refurbished building encompasses dedicated offices, private desks, a podcast room, members’ lounge, café, and terrace, as well as a restaurant and bar. A 24-room boutique hotel is set to open on the site in 2023.
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