Two of the four shortlisted Ladywell Playtower plans would bring water back to the 1884 baths, and two add homes. See them all, then have your say by 16 November.

Four organisations want to rescue Ladywell Playtower, and Lewisham Council is asking residents which one should get it. The plans for the derelict Grade II listed baths went on public show on Monday 5 October. The council’s survey closes at 9am on Monday 16 November (Lewisham Council).

The four bidders will be at an in-person event on Thursday 15 October, from 3pm to 8pm, at St Mary’s Centre on Ladywell Road (SE13 7UW).

The shortlist is:

  • Hackit Design CIC, with a hydrotherapy, skills and wellbeing centre
  • Liquid Listening, with an arts and wellbeing hub built around hydrotherapy pools and saunas
  • RUSS, the Rural Urban Synthesis Society, with “The Playtower Commons”: a community hall, a nursery and homes for older people
  • Turner Works, with “PlayWell”, a cultural campus for events, studios and play

Why it matters

The Playtower opened in 1884 as a Victorian bath house. The council calls it “one of the country’s earliest public swimming pools and a fine example of Gothic architecture”. It has stood empty for years, and has suffered fire damage since it closed.

The council ended a previous agreement for the building, made before the pandemic, because it “did not make the progress we expected”. It restarted the search for a partner in December 2025.

More than 500 residents answered the council’s first survey earlier this year, according to the council’s June announcement of the shortlist. The council says people asked for “a community-focused space with affordable activities that respects the building’s heritage”. The bidders’ full plans could not be published until now, while they were still preparing detailed bids.

The four plans side by side

Every detail below comes from each bidder’s own page on the council’s consultation site.

Bidder Who they are The main idea What stands out
Hackit Design CIC Black-led social enterprise that designs accessible homes and adaptations for disabled, neurodivergent and chronically ill people Accessible hydrotherapy and spa, coworking and a digital suite, a community garden and café Women-only and men-only sessions; reduced-cost and free access for residents on low incomes
Liquid Listening Charity founded in 2010 that runs “Musical Hydrotherapy” for disabled children and adults Hydrotherapy pools, saunas, a Grand Hall, café, gardens and a training hub Architects Purcell; would restore the tower roof and the original well
RUSS Lewisham community land trust, set up in 2009, which built 36 permanently affordable homes at Church Grove in 2024 Café, affordable studios and the Bathing Hall as one large events space A LEYF nursery for more than 100 children and 11 affordable homes for older people
Turner Works Team behind Pop Brixton and Peckham Levels, and the restoration of The Catford House Flexible event and performance space, a play café, creative studios Puts the main building works at about £8m; homes on the site would help pay for it

Hackit Design CIC: a wellbeing centre with hydrotherapy

Hackit’s plan centres on hydrotherapy and spa facilities “designed around privacy, dignity and calm”. It also proposes:

  • women-only and men-only sessions, alongside family and mixed sessions
  • coworking space and a digital suite
  • creative spaces and training routes into trades, heritage skills and the arts
  • a community garden and a café for community cooking
  • clinical consultation hours and signposting to local services

Hackit is a not-for-profit social enterprise, so any surplus would go back into the project. Paid sessions and room hire would cover running costs. Reduced-cost and free access would go first to residents on low incomes. Its chief executive, Angela Stewart, was born at Lewisham Hospital.

Liquid Listening: the Ladywell Arts and Wellbeing Hub

Liquid Listening’s bid would put water back at the centre of the building. Its “Musical Hydrotherapy” combines movement in a warm pool with music played through the water. If chosen, it would set up a new charity, the Ladywell Arts and Wellbeing Hub CIO.

The hub would also take in the neighbouring Coroner’s Court and Mortuary buildings. It lists:

  • hydrotherapy pools and saunas in new spaces at the rear, to protect the Victorian structure
  • the Grand Hall, a listening room, a café, a juice bar, a heritage gallery and gardens
  • a training hub
  • a local music hub, a bistro and tea room, and treatment rooms in the Coroner’s Court and Mortuary

It would open from morning to night all year, with memberships and discounts for local residents. A dedicated wing would serve children and adults with special educational needs.

RUSS: The Playtower Commons

RUSS proposes keeping the Bathing Hall as one large space for performances, classes, markets and events. Its roof, windows and galleries would be restored, the cast-iron balustrades put back, the rose window reopened, and the conical roof returned.

Beyond the Playtower itself, RUSS proposes:

  • a LEYF nursery and early years training academy, with places for more than 100 children and about 100 apprentices at any one time
  • 11 affordable homes for older people above the nursery
  • the Coroner’s Court, Mortuary and green back in use within the first year, with outdoor saunas, gardening, meals and an interim café
  • a new village green of around 625 square metres, kept as public space rather than built on
  • youth arts from Lewisham Youth Theatre

RUSS says the site would stay in community ownership “in perpetuity”. It says its plan was shaped by consultations with more than 600 local people.

Turner Works: PlayWell

Turner Works pitches PlayWell as “a vibrant cultural and community centre”, combining a London-wide draw with “a super-local heart”. It compares the idea to the Horniman Museum. It plans:

  • flexible event and performance spaces
  • a play café
  • studios for creatives
  • heritage and wellbeing uses, nature and education spaces

It would move a staffed project hub into the former Mortuary early on, running markets, exhibitions and performances while the restoration is planned. A community steering group would follow.

Turner Works is the only bidder to put a figure on the job. It says restoring the Playtower will cost “approximately £8m, for the main building works alone”. A new charity, the Playtower Trust, would raise that money through grants and donations. Funders such as the National Lottery expect match funding, it says, so its plan includes housing on the site, “including exploring the delivery of much-needed affordable homes”. The land value from those homes “would directly fund the Playtower’s restoration”.

What happens next

The council will take the survey results, and its assessment of the four detailed bids, to Mayor and Cabinet in a report “later in 2026”. That meeting will choose the preferred restoration partner. No date has been set.

What it means for you

  • See the plans: each bidder’s page, exhibition boards and documents are on the council’s consultation site.
  • Meet the bidders: Thursday 15 October, 3pm to 8pm, St Mary’s Centre, Ladywell Road, SE13 7UW.
  • Have your say by 9am on Monday 16 November. The survey has four questions and the council says it takes under 10 minutes. It asks how well each plan would restore the building and help the community, how likely you are to visit, and which you prefer.
  • Need help or another format? Email playtower@lewisham.gov.uk or call the council’s freephone line on 020 8314 3130.

For more on the area, see our coverage of the Ladywell Fields café licence and the Ladywell station shop unit plan.

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