The event was held on 9 February 2024 to unveil the plaque for the 2023 Arch Co Award for Urban Heritage, which had announced at a ceremony held at Merchant Taylors’ Hall in London in early December 2023.
The recipients were Benedict O’Looney Architects, Network Rail and the Railway Heritage Trust for the excellent work in refurbishing the façades and roof of Peckham Rye station.
The award plaque was unveiled together with a blue plaque from the Railway Heritage Trust recognising the support given to the project.
The National Railway Heritage Awards were represented by Chairman, Andy Savage MBE, Chairman, Tim Hedley-Jones, Sponsorship Manager and Trustee who on this occasion was representing the Railway Heritage Trust in his capacity as Executive Director RHT, Robert Hayward, Awards Manager and Trustee, and Malcolm Wood, Awards Manager and Trustee. The sponsors of the Award, The Arch Company, were represented by Phil Curry.
The event was organised by Network Rail, represented by Andrew Wood, Senior Commercial Scheme Sponsor, who spoke on behalf of the company and thanked the contractors, and the architects for their fine efforts, together with the support given by the Railway Heritage Trust.
The contractors for the award were BAM Nuttall and they were represented by Nick Moss who explained the work which had been carried out and some of the interesting elements encountered during the work.
Also present were Benedict O’Looney, the project heritage architect, and Dr Nicola Stacey, Director of the Heritage of London Trust, who between them explained the importance of the work, the historical importance of the building and the relationship of the station to the wider community.
The plaque was then unveiled by the Rt Hon Harriet Harman MP, the member for the constituency of Camberwell & Peckham, who praised the work before unveiling the plaques to the assembled large group of delighted locals, railway industry partners and project team members.
The plaque at Peckham Rye following its official unveiling with, left to right, Benedict O’Looney, Benedict O’Looney Architects, Andrew Wood, Network Rail, Dr Nicola Stacey, Heritage of London Trust, the Rt Hon Harriet Harman MP, Andy Savage, NRHA, Nick Moss, BAM Nuttall, and Tim Hedley-Jones, Railway Heritage Trust and NRHA.
The restored exterior at Peckham Rye station. The station was designed by Charles Henry Driver for the London Chatham & Dover Railway (1865) and the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (1866) and exhibits typical details which were Driver’s trademark, including floral decorated string courses and flamboyant cast iron work. The project had not only cleaned and refurbished the brick and stone façades but had also reintroduced details at roof level including replacement of the missing original style cresting and details to the main roof and introduced original style Taylor ‘bridging’ roof tiles to the pavilions. The completed work made the station the worthy winner of The Arch Company Urban Heritage Award at the 2023 National Railway Heritage Awards.