The remaining unrestored Victorian building cluster next to Smithfield market is to be converted into a food market and hotel, to sit next to the future London Museum.
The cluster, informally known as the Annexe buildings, comprises the Fish Market, the cold store “Red House,” and the Engine House. Not in use since the mid-1970s, the General Market and the adjacent Annexe buildings had faced the threat of demolition until it was decided to turn the markets into a new home for the London Museum. Separately, in 2005, Grade II listed building protection was approved for the Red House Cold Store building, based on new historical evidence that qualified the complex as “the earliest existing example of a purpose-built powered cold store”.
When the London Museum conversion works began, they included conservation work carried out on the annexe as well. Now, the City of London has confirmed what it will be converted into.
The first phase, opening in early 2028, will see a new food market opening in the buildings. Later, by 2030, there will be more retail spaces and a hotel opened, as well as the conversion of a disused service area into a central pocket park.
(c) General Projects
Chris Hayward, Policy Chairman at the City of London Corporation, said: “Smithfield has always been London’s kitchen, a place of trade, energy and life for over a thousand years. The Annexe redevelopment honours that history while giving this remarkable corner of the Square Mile a bold new future.
“Alongside the new London Museum and the Barbican, it will help make Smithfield somewhere Londoners and visitors come back to again and again not for one particular reason, but because there is always something extraordinary to discover. This is Destination City in action.”
The London Museum will open its permanent galleries in the General Market towards the end of this year. Its temporary exhibition space, learning centre and interactive collections store will follow in 2028.