Watermen’s Hall, London

Watermen’s Hall is one of the very few surviving examples of a City Company hall built in the Georgian period, most other company halls of the same era having been rebuilt in the nineteenth century or following damage in the Blitz.

As part of steps by the Company of Watermen and Lightermen to make both the building and its extensive archives more accessible to the public, the company commissioned a conservation statement from AHP.

AHP’s report set out the history of the building, using company- and external archives to chart alterations and reconstructions. While the facade and main rooms of the building, originally designed by William Blackburn, survive virtually intact, the upper floors have been rebuilt and the hall enlarged by the addition of two other properties in St Mary at Hill.

Although the building is well cared-for, our report raised issues about how best to use the building. Currently let for a mix of residential, commercial and private Company uses, the future of any historic building depends on its owners’ ability to provide a viable, sustainable and suitable use for it.

Public

Middlesbrough Town Hall, Cleveland ›
Congress Theatre, Eastbourne ›

Ecclesiastical

Whalley Abbey, Lancashire ›
Ironmonger Row Baths, London ›

Commercial

Regent Street, London ›
Watermen’s Hall, London ›

Military

Dymchurch Redoubt, Kent ›
Carlisle Castle, Cumbria ›

Industrial

Transporter Bridge, Middlesbrough ›
Nantyglo Round Towers, South Wales ›

Country

Gad’s Hill, Kent ›
Sundridge Park, Bromley ›