London's Marshall Street Baths has remained closed with its magnificent marble-lined pool drained and empty since 1996. Sport England is now backing the London Pools Campaign in a regeneration scheme to restore and upgrade the pool. RPS is providing planning, transport, noise, sustainability, design and access advice for the project. The application was submitted in February - the outcome to which is scheduled for July. Marshall Street Baths is a Grade II listed building.

The swimming baths first opened in June 1852, erected by the vestry of St. James's on freehold land under the 1846 Baths and Wash-Houses Act. The baths were extended in 1860 and again in 1891 before they were demolished in 1928, under order of Westminster City Council, to be replaced with a new and even bigger complex in 1931.

The new complex featured a grand 100' x 35' (30.5 x 10.7m) pool with stepped seats, walls lined with Sicilian white and Swedish green marble, and a fountain by Walter Gilbert (see note 1) at the shallow end. In addition to this, there was a smaller pool and slipper-baths, as well as a public laundry, maternity/ child welfare facilities, and a highways depot. It was designed by Camden architects A.W.S. and K.M.B. Cross in the high fashion of Art Deco, and was built by Bovis. The building was finally closed in 1997.

The £25M deal was secured by Westminster City Council, and the project is set to reach completion ready for the new centre to be opened for public use by 2009. The main, marble-lined pool is to be restored, the changing facilities upgraded, and a spa provided, with a gym and aerobics suites.

RPS provided design advice and worked with Westminster City Council's Access Officer, Leisure department, and Local Access Group to ensure that possible access issues were addressed, and solutions created, to ensure the new facilities will be inclusively accessible to all.

The building's refurbishment is to be enabled by the redevelopment of the Poland Street multi-storey car park (MSCP) to create over 2000m² of office space, and 56 units for mixed-tenure residential accommodation as well as public parking facilities. The new residential units will be built to Lifetime Homes standards, with 10% of the units designed to be wheelchair accessible, or easily adaptable for residents who are wheelchair users. RPS analysed empirical data relating to the MSCP's use to assess parking requirements and provision, and advised on existing residential parking and pedestrian and cycle access provision.

The scheme will also provide a new depot for Oxford Street's busy street cleaners. RPS Transport consultants used Pedestrian Environment Review System (PERS) software when undertaking a physical audit of the MSCP's Poland Street access to plan options for the depot's reconfiguration.

Notes:
1. Walter Gilbert founded the Bromsgrove Guild in the 1890s which exhibited in Paris's 1900 Art Nouveau: Exposition Universelle.

Contact:
RPS London (Cottons Lane) - Planning & Development
T: 020 7939 8000