Earlier this year we held a public consultation to gather feedback from our neighbours, elected representatives and stakeholders on our vision for Custom House. Following valuable input from our consultation and ongoing meetings with the City of London Corporation we are delighted to share further details of our proposals.
We are keen to continue to engage with the local community and are asking for your feedback again ahead of submitting a planning application to the City of London Corporation.
However, over its 200-year life the building has gradually suffered from degradation and needs refurbishment.
Today, the building and its scenic location provide an exciting opportunity for a new high-quality hotel and cultural offering that will allow for greater enjoyment and the creation of a new public space on the north bank of the Thames providing opportunity for gathering and dwelling and improving routes along the river.
Today, our vision for the cultural offer would give the public access to areas that they were previously unable to see. Longstanding
areas such as the Long Room, King’s Warehouse and basement vaults will be seamlessly incorporated into the vision of the hotel and extend its offering to all that pass through.
Unique visitors to the website during this consultation phase
Social media reach
In addition to this, our consultation gathered further feedback about Custom House. You can see what themes were most important to the people who responded below.
‘Make it a lovely hotel’
‘Improved access to the river and enhanced public realm along the riverfront’
‘Lets stop the decay of this magnificent building ASAP’
‘Historic preservation of the building is important’
‘I would like to be able to walk around Custom House with a tour guide as if it were a museum, and ideally it would be a museum and cultural event space available for everyone to experience. I think a cultural heritage building such as this should be public for all to enjoy and not turned into a hotel for only very wealthy people to be able to visit and experience’
Our ambition is to transform Custom House into a welcoming and inclusive hotel with no velvet ropes. Embedding culture and public access into the building and its surroundings is integral to this ambition.
There will be a free to access public route through the main entrance lobby on Lower Thames Street to the riverside that passes through the key historic spaces of Custom House featuring permanent and changing exhibits and artworks.
On the riverfront, there will be new steps and ramps leading to the building which are designed to encourage visitors to enter the building as well as providing areas to sit and view the river. The landscape design will also feature integrated permanent seating, planting, public art and infrastructure for events. Read more about our plans for the riverfront in the sections below.
The historic Long Room will be able to be hired by outside parties for events and the public will be able to visit by booking slots and will be available to community and cultural groups free of charge. As part of the Long Room’s offer, heritage tours will take place that allow visitors to actively encompass themselves in the history of Custom House. Alongside the unique historic setting, this new event space will also have panoramic views of the River Thames.
The historic Long Room
Indicative image of the Long Room being used as an event space
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