Bat & Ball Station shortlisted for RIBA Award

Published: 20 March 2019

Press Release

19 March 2019

Theis + Khan is pleased to announce that the Bat & Ball Station building has been shortlisted for the RIBA South East Regional Awards 2019.  Bat & Ball Station restoration and refurbishment project was commissioned by Sevenoaks Town Council (STC) after being given the building on a 25 year lease for  a ‘peppercorn’ rent. The building was first opened in 1862 as the main station for Sevenoaks and although de-staffed and boarded up since 1992 the Thameslink line continued to run to London. STC saw the opportunity to link another of their projects the Bat & Ball community centre on the other side of the railway line (an RIBA competition won by Theis + Khan in 2015) to the station, giving the public full accessibility to the London bound platform for the first time. Bat & Ball station and the community centre are the start of STC’s ambitious master plan to regenerate Northern Sevenoaks.

Theis + Khan’s brief was to retain the original station character and refurbish the building to provide a café, community rooms, and internal, external and accessible WCs, to contemporary standards. The station building was of significantly historical interest to be awarded a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £755k towards the £950k budget. The project started in July 2017, went on site in March 2018 and completed in February 2019.

The existing building retained original features that provide a strong and distinctive basis for the new design. These include elaborate architrave panels over the doors, ticket windows and counters. A careful judgment was made to balance a sense of historic enhancement with contemporary design so lighting, radiators and sanitary fittings are carefully chosen to compliment the original Victorian style of the station. Timber panelling around the walls, echoes the original and gives a sense of scale to the lofty rooms. Mechanical and electrical services have all been updated to contemporary standards. The town council and local community have been fully engaged in the project throughout, led by Town Clerk Linda Larter.

The Mayor of Sevenoaks, Councillor Hogarth says:

‘I’m very pleased for everyone involved in this project that it has been shortlisted by RIBA. Now the station has opened it has quickly become a valuable resource for the community. The original design has been delivered, which is not always easy to do with renovations and the feedback from the public has been very positive.’