Lewes Cooperative Stores

Mathew Crawford Architects were privileged to be commissioned for this fantastic project. It involved the sensitive restoration and conversion of the Grade II Listed former Cooperative Stores in Lewes.

Building history

The building is located in the Lewes Conservation Area. It was originally designed by Denman and Matthews Architects in the early 20th Century as a purpose built store for the Cooperative Society. It had a grocery store on the ground floor and a haberdashery on the first floor. A hall to the rear of the building provided a place for employee functions. The store opened in 1906 and operated throughout the early 1900’s.

The building survived 2 close calls during WWII when bombs landed to the south and east. Though much of the building survived, there were many subsequent alterations to the shop front. During the 1970’s the feature concave roof over the clock tower was stunted.

In 1980 the building was acquired by Wallis and Wallis Auctioneers. In the same year, the building was listed (Grade II) by Historic England). The building operated as an auction house until 2024.

The brief

Unfortunately, the Covid pandemic and general ‘death of the High Street’ saw the demise of the in person auction. As one of only 2 guardians of this great Lewes landmark, the owner of the building sought to secure the future of the building. In so doing, we assisted the client in formulating a proposal which would see the partial conversion of the building to 5 high quality apartments. A commercial unit would remain, providing an active frontage to West Street.

The approach

We approached the project with the utmost respect for the history of the building. Internally, the layouts were designed to have little impact on the historically sensitive parts of the building. Where possible, historical features such as vaulted ceilings and timber panelling were retained and celebrated.

A similar approach was taken externally. The front of the building, including all of the windows, were retained. The stunted concave roof was reinstated. To the sides and rear, where there was less historical importance, we took the opportunity to increase the thermal performance of the building and replace the windows with new heritage steel framed windows.

What did our client say?

“Matthew has been incredible throughout the whole process of design, inspiration and insight into what our Edwardian building actually needed and requires to keep it to its original design outside but totally transformed inside. Also, he’s delt with the planning process from start to finish, meetings with the relevant planning authorities and hoops you have to go through over a number of months to see the project through its conclusion. He’s taken away all that extra stress and some work that would be on my shoulders at a time in life when things have been somewhat difficult for me and my family. If you have a large project like mine or small, I suggest he’s your first point of contact.”