Surveyors have been asked by Islington Council to size up how underground toilets which have been closed for more than 35 years could be converted into an art gallery or café.

But with the Victorian lavatories at Clerkenwell Green in line for a possible facelift, conservationists say the Town Hall should be looking at ways to bring them back into use as public toilets rather than turning them into another space to sell coffee.

The Town Hall backed down after a storm of protest in 2002 when it attempted to sell the site on the private market as part of a redevelopment scheme. It was reported that the council was offered £100,000 at the time as 20 potential buyers expressed an interest.

London’s changing property market means the toilets, built in 1899 and closed to the public in 1981, would now attract a significantly higher fee; a former public toilet now used as an underground nightspot in nearby Spitalfields was sold for £1million last month.

Set Square, the surveyors and design team appointed by Islington, said, however, the refurbishment plans were “with a view to the site being let on the private market as either a gallery or café space”.

The design work follows a series of striking conversions of Victorian toilets across London. In Kentish Town, the underground toilets are now a cocktail bar and a recording studio, while a similar facility in Fitzrovia is a coffee shop. Neighbour­ing Camden is consider­ing plans to change another set of subter­ranean toilets in Holborn into a noodle restaurant.

The toilets at Clerkenwell Green are arguably in a more historic setting, however, close to where Lenin had an office in the 1900s, the Marx Memorial Library still stands and Charles Dickens knew well enough to set the Artful Dodger’s pickpocketing scenes in Oliver Twist.

The design brief here will include a request to retain as many of the original features including three urinals by noted Victorian plumber George Jennings.

The Clerkenwell Green Preservation Society, however, is fighting the proposals. In an appeal to its members to raise objections, the society’s founder and director Ann Pembroke reminded them of past campaigns to protect the toilets.

“With the advent of the passenger influx of Crossrail, it is even more critical to restore the lavatories for public use,” she said. Ms Pembroke added: “The public lavatories are structures of the iconic history of Clerkenwell Green. They are fit for restoration and use in their original form.”

Set Square said it was working to “retain architectural features as far as practicable”, including the Terrazzo flooring and the Luxcrete lights.

The company said: “The proposed development of the site would mean that the focal-point of Clerken­well Green would be considerably improved visually from street level with the refurbishment

of iron work and reinstatement of the Luxcrete paviours adding to the historic importance of the conservation area.”

Islington’s planning department is currently reviewing the proposals and views of the public.

• Keywords
  PUBLIC TOILETS, CAFES
• Geographical keyword
  CLERKENWELL GREEN