Poplar Baths, East London
Poplar Baths, East London
Poplar Baths is a building which has played a significant role in Poplar’s history, and marks an interesting development in public health facilities in London in the twentieth century. Designed for Poplar Borough Council by Harley Heckford, the Borough Engineer, and built between 1932 and 1934, the building followed the latest principles on regulating public hygiene, and featured an innovative reinforced concrete arch roof.
The baths closed in 1985 and the pools were filled in in 1988, when the building was used by the London Dockland Development Corporation as a construction training centre. The building has been derelict since 1994, but long-term pressure from local residents has prevented its demolition and contributed to its listing, at grade II, in 2001.
In December 2007 AHP was commissioned by the Environment Trust to prepare a Conservation Management Plan for the baths, with the aim of informing a regeneration plan which will reinstate a large pool for community use and provide private housing in less significant parts of the building.