Old railway arches are often left to dilapidate, however, Pexhurst has partnered with The Arch Company to help refurbish 1,000 arches across the UK, and use them to provide a space for businesses
Pexhurst has partnered with The Arch Company to refurbish old railway arches to provide further spaces for businesses as part of their Project 1000.
Project 1000 sees £200m worth of investment to bring at least 1,000 old railways arches into business and rental use by 2030.
These investments will bring more business to local areas, allowing for more jobs to be created, and refreshing the areas around them.
Refurbishing railway arches presents unique challenges
The railway arches in question present unique challenges for those working on them. They are in use, with railways in operation on them every day. They are also often in built up and populated areas.
This means that transportation and handling teams must be minimised in order to not obstruct local traffic or the railway itself.
It also means that head-offices must be close by, and deliveries must operate on a ‘just in time’ basis to keep the workflow as smooth as possible.
Arches are ideal for business
Sustainability is key in retrofitting railway arches, as they often provide unique locations or views for businesses. It also provides a unique interior working space, and will contribute to driving down carbon emissions.
They often have a central location within a city, making, for example, hospitality or light industrial businesses ideal tenants to bring to these refurbed arches.
Stuart Byles, director at Pexhurst, said: “Our collaboration with The Arch Company is only one example of a results-driven partnership in the railway arch sector, but the significant opportunity to create many more thriving business environments is set to increase interest and investment. There are unique challenges and there are impressive solutions, which makes the sector one which we can all learn from.”
