SilverDale Old Sorting Office

[Whiftoff]

Deos anyone is there are plans for this to be developed?

[Tim Lund]

Good question. On checking on the Lewisham Planning Portal, I find that although permission was granted 6 October 2010 for "The use of the former Royal Mail Sorting Office at 4-6 Silverdale SE26 as a Pilates/Yoga Studio" - ref DC/10/73502/X - this permission expires in three years - so has now expired.

If you look on this PDF, you can see who the owner was then, and I've no reason to think it is anyone different now. If so, he is not someone who much likes publicity on this Forum, which is a shame.

[Willy]

this seems to be being used as some sort of waste collection area, I have seen people filling a skip to the side a few times...

[mosy]

I think "to the side" where the skip was is an access pathway outside the perimeter so not to do with the sorting office. I've never seen any activity within the perimeter since it closed down as a sorting office.

[leenewham]

I've got a lot of pictures of the interior. I will post them if I can find them, it's amazing inside!.

[Theatre]

would like some info on the old sorting office would like to find out who owns

[Tim Lund]

Try this PDF from a planning application DC/13/84918 made 17th September last year



Source here

You'll see that the owner doesn't want anyone to know how to get in touch with him directly, but an agent's name and phone number is given.

Elsewhere on that PDF, you will find that Annabel McLaren of the Sydenham Society has been consulted.

[Edoss]

Now if only this could be made into a good pub!

[mosy]

I've got a lot of pictures of the interior. I will post them if I can find them, it's amazing inside!.

Pictures would be good. When I was once allowed beyond the porch entrance, it felt rather like a scout hut with lots of very glaring strip lights. The building seems to have skylights but no side windows - dunno how hard it'd be to get permission to create some. So (as is) not really light and airy as might befit a lunch pub. Just musing and curious about what leenewham's pics of the interior show.

[leenewham]

I seem to recall it being fairly light inside, but it was empty. The end walls have lots of windows and the side wall has quite a few down on the right, plus the skylights. I did go on a pretty sunny day which probably helped.

I can't find the images at all, they may be on an old laptop. I will have to check, it was years ago when I went in there.

[mosy]

Ah, it would make a difference to natural light travel if it was empty when you went leenewham. I went in when the sorting office was in full flow and there were long aisles of taller-than-man-height shelf racks with maybe 5ft space in between.

If no photos, what from memory was amazing about the interior? It was a busy sorting office so I wouldn't have noticed any architectural features even if visible beyond the shelves so I'm intrigued as to what I missed...

[Tim Lund]

[leenewham]

Large sash windows, large space, exposed metal roof trusses and all the industrial bits holding the building together, and I'm pretty sure it had a really wonderful wooden floor. I'm a big fan of old 'industrial' buildings (for want of a better term). We used to make buildings that often had humdrum uses rather elegant and celebratory rather than today. It had some junk office stuff off to one side, but I'm pretty sure tha could have been removed. It had loads of potential.

[mosy]

[clip]... We used to make buildings that often had humdrum uses rather elegant and celebratory rather than today. [clip]....

Yes. I asked a while back elsewhere what it was built for and seemingly it was built to be a sorting office. I'd thought until then maybe as a school since around Albert, Prince Consort's time but as you say, pride taken in buildings beyond utilitarian minimalism.

Thanks to Tim Lund for the photos. I wonder what the floor is made from. Looks like oak from the colour and if so will last forever and then some. Hope it'll be respected or if unwanted carefully removed to a reclamation outlet and not just covered over. A decent space methinks.

[fishcox]

I had a couple of meetings with the owner, a couple of years ago, with a view to leasing the building from him.

It all fell apart due to his odd ideas about business.

He used to have Oola Boola Antiques on Kirkdale, before he sold and it was developed as Tesco Express.

He just seems to be sitting on it - I would avoid him like the plague

[harrym]

What a shame. It's a great building!

[leenewham]

He owns a lot of buildings around Sydenham and Kirkdale. I've never met him, but I've heard stories along the lines of Fishcox's experience.

[Tony.o]

I had a couple of meetings with the owner, a couple of years ago, with a view to leasing the building from him.

It all fell apart due to his odd ideas about business.

He used to have Oola Boola Antiques on Kirkdale, before he sold and it was developed as Tesco Express.

He just seems to be sitting on it - I would avoid him like the plague

Hi I've been trying to find out who is the owner of that building because I want to see if I can run a proposal to him do you know any way of getting hold of him

[Tim Lund]

I had a couple of meetings with the owner, a couple of years ago, with a view to leasing the building from him.

It all fell apart due to his odd ideas about business.

He used to have Oola Boola Antiques on Kirkdale, before he sold and it was developed as Tesco Express.

He just seems to be sitting on it - I would avoid him like the plague

Hi I've been trying to find out who is the owner of that building because I want to see if I can run a proposal to him do you know any way of getting hold of him

I used to have contact details, but he really doesn't like being contacted

[mosy]

Hi Tony.o and welcome.

I'd assume the deed holder's name or business can be obtained from the Land Registry complete with an address for official correspondence.

I suppose you could try the council who know but might not tell you.

If you wanted a hall temporarily of similar size, you could ask the council about their Silverdale Hall a few doors down from the sorting office. The hall is due to be redeveloped at some stage (into houses) but is currently unused.