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Bedford Passage Development

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We pride ourselves on the diversity of projects we deliver and sites don’t come with more historic interest than the complex contract we are currently undertaking for University College Hospitals Charity (UCLHC) at the Middlesex Hospital Annexe, formerly the Strand Union Workhouse.

This is a historic site in Fitzrovia which comprises eight buildings, all varying dates of construction with the earliest, dating back to between 1775 and 1778, being used as a workhouse for the parish of St Paul, Covent Garden. The site was subsequently modified and became the Strand Union Workhouse in c.1836. After further construction it became the Central London Sick Asylum in 1873. In 1913 further expansion took place at the site and it was used as the Cleveland Street Infirmary. The site was then acquired in 1924 by the Middlesex Hospital and used as the Out Patients department from 1926 until 2006 when the hospital closed. The site has since remained mainly vacant since then. The main building on the site The Workhouse, was listed as Grade II in 2011. Research revealed that Charles Dickens, who lived nearby, used the workhouse as the inspiration for his 1837 novel ‘Oliver Twist’. In addition, following a severe outbreak of cholera in the summer of 1854, Florence Nightingale was transferred from a hospital in Harley Street to work at the Middlesex Hospital.

The project is being delivered across 3 phases.

  • Phase 1 involved the complex demolition of existing buildings where safety, the control of pollution and traffic and the protection of retained listed structures was paramount. Thereafter, the Museum of London Archaeological (MOLA) undertook an archaeological investigation.
  • Phase 2 involved making the retained listed and other structures wind and watertight through re-roofing, roofing repairs, brickwork repairs and repointing, window repairs, and damp proofing.
  • Phase 3 is currently in progress and due for completion in July 2023. The work comprises the conversation of the buildings into residential apartments.