I wondered why Tesco in West Smithfield closed last week when it was just across the road from the London Museum, due to open on November 28.
Nearby a souvenir shop full of Paddington Bears and Harry Potter is already waiting for the crowds, estimated at 2-3 million a year.
The explanation is that the block is being redeveloped by Railpen. Insight magazine reports:
“The £34 billion Railways Pension Scheme manager plans to transform the existing building into a 122,000 sq ft office development, with completion expected in the fourth quarter of 2028. The scheme is intended to provide new office space alongside retail, café and amenity uses, overlooking the historic Smithfield Market site. The project forms part of wider investment in the Smithfield district, where around £400 million is being invested ahead of the opening of the new London Museum in 2028 (but see below). The museum will occupy part of the former Smithfield Market complex and is expected to become the centrepiece of a new cultural quarter”.
Here’s a visual of the new scheme, with a Google Streetview below.
You can see the dome of the former Poultry Market bottom left, which will indeed open in 2028, as part of the second phase of Museum development. On the right is the The Annex building, due for redevelopment by 2028 with a food hall, boutique hotel, retail developments and a pocket park “offering green space for community events, digital art, and live performances throughout the day and evenings”.
- London Museum article about the opening
- Architects Stanton Williams description of the scheme
- Blog post on The Annex plans
The Insight article continues:
“Designed by architect Henley Halebrown, the redevelopment will retain much of the existing structure while introducing a new façade, expanded public space and upgraded environmental performance”.
Adding:
“The building will provide office floorplates of up to 20,000 sq ft across five floors, together with more than 9,400 sq ft of terraces and rooftop garden space. A further 11,400 sq ft will be dedicated to retail, café and other amenity uses. The site is less than five minutes’ walk from Farringdon station and the Elizabeth line.”
The Museum is being redeveloped in the former General Market and Poultry Market buildings, while the main Smithfield meat market is still trading nearby. Ian Mansfield reported recently that the planned closure and move to the Royal Docks is now likely to be at the end of 2029, rather than 2028 as originally proposed.
There are plans for the Meat Market buildings to be developed as a major cultural and commercial hub, originally proposed in 2020. Last year the City Corporation announced creation of a 30-year masterplan for the Barbican/Smithfield area.
In a blog post a year ago – New plans for Smithfield Market. How about a new Cultural Quarter? – I recapped previous plans for the market buildings, and development of a Culture Mile from West Smithfield to Moorgate.
I suggested that the opening of the Museum, and the development of the new cultural hub, will remove a traditional barrier between Smithfield and Clerkenwell, and provides the opportunity to create a wider cultural quarter.
I wrote:
“The recently-published Clerkenwell Footways map shows north-south linkages between the two areas, and highlights cultural and heritage assets like The Charterhouse just across the border. The London Archives and Museum of St John are not far away”.
… so I was interested to see the line in the Insight article … “The Museum … is expected to become the centrepiece of a new cultural quarter”.
In last year’s news release about the 30-year masterplan the City Corporation said that by the end of 2025 it “intends to publish new imagery showcasing early concepts of how the Smithfield market site could be transformed”.
I hope we’ll soon hear more about those ideas, and the initial work of the task force. The property market clearly has West Smithfield in its sights – and it’s time for debate about the balance between commercial and cultural uses.