Five years ago, againstexpertadvice, Boris Johnson closed ten London fire stations to save (and raise) some cash. One of those was my local fire station in Parnell Road, Bow, which has since been demolished and the site reborn as a university technical college. Free schools were high on the agenda at the time, and there was an expectation that many of the sites might be reused in this way.
But how typical is Bow's fate? I've done some research to try to discover what's happened to all ten fire stations since they closed in 2014.
🔥 Belsize (Camden)
» Has become luxury flats.
» "The launch of Belsize Park Firehouse will bring a distinctive collection of exclusive new homes crafted from an outstanding Grade II* listed former fire station at the heart of sought-after Belsize Park. This unique range of just 20 one, two, three and four bedroom luxury apartments extends the heritage of this fine building with its Arts and Crafts period architecture, preserved with meticulous attention to detail throughout."
» The sale raised £7.8m.
🔥 Bow (Tower Hamlets)
» Has become Mulberry UTC, part of the Mulberry Schools Trust, a spin-off from Mulberry School for Girls (the school Michelle Obama pops into when she's over).
» "Our partners, supporters and advisors include: Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barts Health NHS Trust, The British Film Institute, Goldsmiths University of London, The National Theatre"
» The technical college opened in 2017 and will eventually have 800 students.
🔥 Clerkenwell (Islington)
» Remained empty from 2014 to 2019 (at a cost of £500,000 for security and maintenance).
» Last month opened (short-term) as the UK's first LGBTIQ+ homeless shelter.
» "The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, today visited the first homelessness service to move into the former Clerkenwell fire station building, which City Hall is bringing back into use."
» Islington Council hope to secure Greater London Authority funding to purchase the site so it can be converted into "genuinely affordable homes" (but no dosh yet).
🔥 Downham (Lewisham)
» Demolished and replaced by 30 flats, 26 of them 'affordable'.
» "The project was procured via a ‘golden brick’ arrangement under a development agreement."
» "The development is an opportunity to develop a vacant site, repair the residential street urban grain with sustainable residential design and provide much needed additional housing."
» New householders live behind red front doors to provide a reference to the site’s former use as a fire station.
🔥 Kingsland (Hackney)
» Sold for £16m for use as a free school, which is due to open in September.
» To aid funding, 68 dual-aspect apartments are being built in a tower above one end of the school, half of which will be reserved for working Londoners on low and middle incomes.
» "Tenants from a nearby development in Hoxton will be temporarily relocated to the apartments whilst their current homes are redeveloped."
🔥 Knightsbridge (Kensington & Chelsea)
» Leasehold property, so was not 'sold'.
🔥 Silvertown (Newham)
» As yet undeveloped, but an invitation to tender for demolition was issued in March.
» Oasis Silvertown Academy will be moving onto the site with 600 students, in a building arranged as a multi-storey ‘superblock’.
» "This is an exceptional and exemplar piece of architecture that has the potential to transform a very constrained site into a humane and nurturing new school environment".
🔥 Southwark (Southwark)
» Redevelopment of former fire service HQ (and surrounding land) has only recently been agreed.
» Will become luxury flats - Brigade Court - as part of a wider development of 199 flats and a 900 pupil secondary school. The brochure's fairly nauseating.
» "The former home of the London Fire Brigade reimagined for modern living. Built in 1878, the iconic fire station buildings have been passionately restored to their original glory, creating a bold yet classic face of the development".
» Sale raised £54m (a sum deemed insufficient for the provision of affordable housing).
🔥 Westminster (Westminster)
» Destined to become a "boutiquedevelopment" (with prices from £850,000).
» "A Grade II listed Edwardian gem, thoughtfully reimagined as a collection of 17 beautiful boutique apartments and a landmark restaurant in the heart of Victoria".
» Ground floor will feature Mathura, a new restaurant by Michelin-starred chef Atul Kochhar.
» Sold off for £9.6m.
🔥 Woolwich (Greenwich)
» Was London's second-oldest operational fire station.
» Freehold sold to Homeland Property Ltd at a rock bottom price of £760,000.
» Now a development of 9 luxury flats.
So if I've researched all that correctly, the outcome of the 2014 firesale is...
Four of the fire stations - generally those that were listed buildings - have been subdivided into entirely unaffordable flats. Three fire stations have ended up being earmarked for education, one with a residential tower tucked into one corner. Just one fire station (Downham) has been replaced by affordable flats - the outcome most Londoners would probably have preferred (other than keeping the fire station open). And one fire station (Clerkenwell) remains empty because no funding is available for the council to turn it into housing themselves. Five years later, only four of the closed fire stations have fully opened in their new form.
It's no triumph. Add it to the list of things our next Prime Minister did without fully thinking it through.
