Stone and brick restoration across South London

The building stock

South London developed rapidly in the second half of the nineteenth century as the railway network expanded south of the Thames. The result is a large and relatively homogeneous stock of mid-to-late Victorian terrace housing in London stock brick, punctuated by earlier Georgian survivals in Bermondsey and Southwark, and by the more prosperous Edwardian and interwar development that characterises Dulwich, Herne Hill, and parts of Clapham.

Battersea and the Nine Elms area contain significant industrial heritage in yellow stock and engineering brick, much of it now being restored as part of residential conversion. Southwark has a number of significant medieval and Tudor survivals, particularly around Borough Market and the Cathedral, where the masonry is substantially older than anything found in most other parts of London.

The predominant material across the area is London stock brick. South London stock is marginally harder on average than North London stock, having come predominantly from the Medway brickfields rather than the Thames valley clampfields, but it is still soft relative to modern brick and should not be treated with acid or high-pressure water.

What we do in South London

DOFF steam cleaning dominates our South London work for the same reason it dominates everywhere else in London: it is the only method that the regulatory framework consistently endorses for historic brick, and it is the only one that does not carry a material risk of substrate damage. On the Victorian terrace stock in Clapham, Stockwell, and Brixton, DOFF lifts the traffic soot and atmospheric soiling that blackens the brick, revealing a warm amber and grey that most owners have never seen on their own building.

Repointing is frequently required. As in North London, hard cement mortar is common across the stock, often applied as a cosmetic improvement rather than a structural remedy. We remove it with the minimum of disruption, using either an angle grinder on a depth guide or an oscillating multi-tool in tighter sections, and replace it with a lime mortar mix matched to the original.

Stone repair is more common in South London than in some other areas, partly because of the age of the Southwark and Bermondsey stock and partly because the Battersea industrial conversions often involve significant facade reinstatement work where original fabric has been lost. We carry out stone repairs using lime mortar, plastic repair, and piecing-in as appropriate to the situation.

Areas we cover

• Clapham
• Battersea
• Bermondsey
• Southwark
• Dulwich
• Peckham
• Herne Hill
• Brixton
• Stockwell
• Vauxhall
• Borough
• Camberwell

Listed buildings and conservation areas

Southwark and Lambeth both have active conservation teams. Southwark's Borough, Bankside, and Bermondsey conservation areas cover a range of building types from medieval masonry to Victorian warehousing. Lambeth has designated the majority of the Victorian terrace stock in Clapham and Brixton within conservation areas, which means that works affecting the external appearance of unlisted buildings require careful consideration.

The Dulwich Estate operates a degree of design oversight over properties within its boundaries that goes beyond standard planning controls. We have experience of working within Estate requirements and can advise on what will and will not be acceptable before work commences.