A disused Grade-II listed public toilet in Bruce Grove will be totally transformed into a new community café designed to benefit local residents and businesses.
The restoration, which has now been given planning permission, will see the toilets brought back to use as a community cafe, pioneering a new Community Wealth Building Lease and make commercial use of the newly extended building.
Working closely with the council, local campaign group The Last Elm and heritage consultant Rob Bevan, the project team have worked to capture and protect the significance of the small building, both above and below ground, to ensure it comes off the Historic England ‘at risk’ register.
The toilet was first constructed at the beginning of the twentieth century, but has deteriorated in last few decades since it closed its doors in the 1980s.
The design has been carried out by architects at DK-CM and include the ground floor being extended with a new garden room to the rear. The renovation of the new cafe will be funded by Haringey Council, the Greater London Authority’s Good Growth Fund and Historic England’s ‘High Street Heritage Action Zone’ funding.
Cllr Charles Adje, Cabinet member for Finance and Strategic Regeneration, said: “We are excited to see this community led initiative bringing the Grade II listed public conveniences building back into use with the confirmation of planning permission. Positioned in the centre of Bruce Grove, we welcome the restoration in this busy and vibrant area of Tottenham and will be seeking suitable contractors in the coming months.
“This project will be an example of our Community Wealth Building approach to maximise every public pound spent and to support local and smaller providers. The property lease – which offers discounts for employing local residents and provides long-term opportunities for those not in education or work or who have additional needs – will incentivise future tenants to support the local community.
“It demonstrates our firm commitment to ensuring local people benefit from the investment in their neighbourhoods and aims to create a more equal and fairer community.”
Emma Twine, Project architect at DK-CM said: “We have really enjoyed working with the council to explore how this small but important building can be brought back into public use. Almost everyone laments the loss of public toilets from our daily lives, but this project shows that we can restore the existing infrastructure in new and exciting ways and help to grow the local economy in the process.”
