Project overview
The redevelopment of West Wickham Library demonstrates how a single material, consistently applied, can unify a complex multi-programme civic project into a coherent piece of urban architecture.
The project involved the near-complete reconstruction of an ageing library, retaining just three original walls before constructing a new two-storey building of significantly greater ambition. The result is a flexible community facility housing an event gallery, café, makerspace, business lounge, community hire space, outdoor classroom and a fully expanded children’s library. It is the fifth library to reopen after refurbishment in the London Borough of Bromley, forming part of a wider £30 million borough-wide investment in public library provision.
To the rear, the former car park has been transformed into 26 social rental homes: 12 arranged as a mews-style development with private gardens and roof terraces, and 14 within a traditional apartment block with balconies. Over 50% of the homes are social and affordable. Brick provides the material language that ties both elements together, allowing the development to read as a single, considered composition rather than two separate projects sharing a site.
Freshfield Lane Selected Dark was specified across the scheme, chosen to respond to the grain and tone of the surrounding streetscape while lending the development a distinctly contemporary character. The depth of colour and textural richness gives both the library and the housing a tactile quality that distinguishes them from generic public-sector construction, while ensuring they sit comfortably within their established residential context.
FabSpeed produced the library’s most architecturally significant detail: a bespoke decorative brick panel featuring an Elm tree motif drawn from West Wickham’s local history, referencing the Elm Stocks Tree, a landmark of genuine community significance. The panels illustrate what brick can do beyond structure and skin, carrying craftsmanship, narrative and civic identity within the fabric of the building itself.
Granted planning approval in Spring 2022 and completed in 2025, the scheme has been shortlisted for a Building London Planning Award for Best Retrofit Project.
