Zodiac Court, fabled as the home of Jez and Mark in Channel 4’s cult comedy Peep Show, is to get a complete makeover, including the addition of a community garden and café in a space which for half a century has been an inhospitable concrete forecourt, if the planners at Croydon Council grant permission.
Garden centre: Zodiac Court is getting the kind of makeover even Mark Corrigan couldn’t complain about
The plans, from development company Common Projects, involve transforming the hard-landscaped forecourt of Zodiac Court on London Road into “Broad Green Common”. The project has the support of the Big Local Broad Green community group.
Residents can view the plans on the council’s planning portal (by clicking here).
The brutalist 1960s buildings at Zodiac Court are split in two: the first four floors of offices, which have been empty for more than 50 years, and the residential tower, Zodiac House (the fictionalised “Apollo House” in the TV comedy) rising above it. Nearby was Cinatras, a typically Croydon nightclub, which closed its doors for a final time in 2004. That site, too, is undergoing redevelopment.
The Broad Green area – from West Croydon Station to Mayday Hospital – has been badly run-down for decades, and was at the centre of much of the worst arson and destruction in the Croydon riots in August 2011. The council’s and Mayor of London efforts to regenerate the area have been largely ineffectual.
Common people: an architects’ CGI of how developers are proposing to put the ‘green’ back into Broad Green
Zodiac Court was developed on the site of Broad Green House and its private gardens, a large private house that was built in 1807, at a time when homes in what was then the Surrey countryside, on the main route down to Brighton, were the height of Regency fashion. Zodiac Court’s 1960s developers turned much of the site into a concrete forecourt.
“Today, there is no trace of this history,” the developers say. “It is an underused and alienating landscape, most recently home to the Rosa Parked café, which has become a hub for several local community groups and has been heavily involved with the design process for the new garden.”
As part of the wide-ranging scheme, Common Projects is refurbishing the office block into flats, avoiding the hugely negative environmental impact of demolishing the existing building. The offices are being redesigned, the developers say, “into apartments for local first-time buyers”.
If the planning application is approved, Common Projects together with landscape designer Planit-IE and Big Local Broad Green say they will “progress the designs further with local people, jointly deciding what the gardens should contain and how the space can best serve its community”.
Steve Sanham, Common Projects’ founder, said, “We’ve really valued the time we’ve been able to spend with the local community, coordinated by Big Local Broad Green, to come up with the proposals for this space – it’s the kind of partnership which is so needed for major developments to be able to contribute positively to their local area.
“We plan to bring a ‘common’ back to Broad Green on the site of a former formal gardens, creating a new setting for Zodiac Court, and a new focal point on London Road for the Broad Green community.
Peep stars: Jez and Mark would struggle to complain about these proposals
“We are hopeful that the council will be able to consider the planning application quickly, and give us the green light so we see them become a reality.”
Queenie Chizea, a steering group member of Big Local Broad Green, said, “Broad Green is full of so much potential. I’m excited to see the birth of a space that will serve as a modern safe, green, welcoming positive and friendly space for locals.
“We are so proud here at Big Local Broad Green to be able to support what will serve as a legacy in Broad Green.”
Mark Corrigan was not available for comment. And nor was Jez.
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