Studio Weave appointed for £4.5m museum revamp

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Vestry House Museum in Walthamstow

Source: London Borough of Waltham Forest

Vestry House Museum in Walthamstow

Source: London Borough of Waltham Forest

Vestry House Museum in Walthamstow

Source: London Borough of Waltham Forest

Vestry House Museum in Walthamstow

Source: London Borough of Waltham Forest

Studio Weave's reimagination of the historic entrance to Vestry House Museum

Source: Studio Weave

Vestry House Museum in Walthamstow in the early 1990s

Source: Vestry House Museum

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Hackney-based Studio Weave has been selected to lead the £4.5m revitalisation of Waltham Forest Council’s grade II-listed Vestry House Museum.

The practice, which was highly commended in the One-off Small Project category of this year’s Architect of the Year Awards, will transform the Walthamstow Village local-history museum into a “welcoming heritage destination” with creative workspaces and a café.

Waltham Forest picked Studio Weave following an open tender process that acknowledged its understanding of the architectural and social context of the 300-year old building and its track record in cultural and heritage settings. The practice has recently completed the Lea Bridge Library and Friendship Gardens project for the borough.

Vestry House was constructed in 1730 to house the parish workhouse and was later used as a police station, an armoury, a builders’ merchants and a private home. The building opened to the public as a local history museum in 1931. It is currently also home to the borough archives and local studies library.

Studio Weave’s brief is to make Vestry House Museum more dynamic, accessible and inclusive, with a culture and heritage offer that more fully reflects the borough’s diversity. The project, which is targeting completion in early 2026 also aims to increase the building’s accessibility and environmental sustainability.

Practice director Eddie Blake said Waltham Forest was investing in the arts at a time when funding is limited and culture is struggling.

“Vestry House Museum is a great opportunity to lead a talented local team in delivering an important architectural project that will improve access to the borough’s culture and historic archives, whilst expanding the use of the building to attract a wider audience,” he said.

“Studio Weave is proud to be working on such a significant building.”

Funding for the project is coming from Waltham Forest’s Levelling Up Fund. The authority plans to set up a new “collaborative and sustainable operational model” for Vestry House once the works are complete and is due to launch a competitive process for an operator to run the site.