Nightlife Under Threat
Nightlife Under Threat - An Architectural Case Study: Learning from Bussey Building & Copeland Park, Peckham.
This study aims to identify the key factors that are contributing to the downfall of London’s nightlife. It seeks to understand how nightlife is an economic, social, and cultural provider and explores why it is so vital to the city.
Taking Peckham’s Bussey Building and Copeland Park as an architectural case study, this thesis explores why its nightclub and nightlife are thriving while venues across London and the U.K have experienced a rapid decline in recent years, with almost half of the U.K.’s night-venues facing closure in the last decade.
In short, this study asks what lessons can be learned from Bussey Building and ‘is it viable alternative model for nightlife across the city?’.
1 | London’s Nightlife Is Under Threat
1.1 The Present Issue
Over the last decade, London’s night venues have found themselves increasingly under threat. According to the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR), the number of nightclubs in the UK has reduced by 45% over the last decade, falling from 3,144 in 2005 to 1,733 in 2015. As we shall see, we can attribute this national trend to a range of factors. However, for many established clubs around London, it is a slightly different story. Increasing tensions with new residential neighbours are further exacerbating the ubiquitous hunger for new residential developments to house the city’s growing population.
In line with the nation trend, London has seen close to half of its late-night establishments close their doors between 2005 and 2015. This downturn is due to a combination of new government legislation, growing demand for residential developments, and the increasing price of living in the capital. It is a peril that has proven too great for many of London’s most loved and frequented establishments and is summarised by the Night Time Industries Association’s current campaign Nightlife Matters:
“British nightlife is under threat. Increasingly strict licensing laws, rising property prices, new housing too close to existing venues, and a lack of understanding about the benefits of night culture have all played their part in eroding our nightlife.”[3]
First, we must identify the key contributing factors to ascertain what is causing this national shift. Once assembled, we can analyse which of these are most pertinent to London, and in doing so acknowledge what differentiates nightclubs in the capital from those located across the United Kingdom.
1.2 Nation-Wide Factors:
1.2.1 Late-Bar Licensing Changes And Stricter Licensing Laws
This national trend is partly a result of statutory changes made by the Licencing Act 2003 (enacted November 2005). The Act means that the opening hours of bars and clubs around the UK are set locally through the conditions of individual licenses, instead of having to close their doors simultaneously at 23:00 as before. As a result of this, many premises can now serve alcohol into the early hours of the morning, and in some extreme cases, up to 24 hours a day. This flexibility in closing times was introduced to reduce public disorder that results from bars and pubs closing at the same time and, as a consequence, ensuring public safety and the reduction of public nuisance[4]. Furthermore, the measure was intended to diminish the speed-drinking culture of increasing intake before the bell rings for ‘last orders.’
Since the Act came into play in 2005, the overall volume of incidents of crime and disorder remains, to a large extent, unchanged[5]. However, it has had a harmful impact on the custom of nightclubs and late-night venues (establishments which operate and serve alcohol into the early morning). As bars and pubs have extended their operating hours, the requirement to move on to a nightclub to continue one’s evening beyond the tradition 11 pm closing time has diminished[6], thus decreasing their demand.
1.2.2 Online dating
Recent technology may have had a detrimental impact on the popularity of nightclubs too. There has been a good deal of media speculation about the impact that new social media applications are having on the way young people are meeting potential partners. For example, the dating app Tinder exploded globally in 2013, gaining over 40 million downloads in 2 years. The ability to meet new potential partners online could be a factor that has reduced the number of single people attending nightclubs.
While nightclubs have always attracted people for a multitude of reasons, with hormones certainly being one of them, it seems dubious that this is a major contributor towards the downward trend in nightclub popularity. Especially when we consider this slump has been taking place over the last decade while dating apps have only been in existence for the last 2 to 3 years.
1.2.3 Increased financial pressure on young people
A further factor that may have contributed to this downward trend is the incremental introduction of tuition fees for higher education students. Between 2003 and 2012, England has seen tuition fees increase from a cap of £3000 a year to £9000 a year[7]. This increased financial burden on students means that the amount of disposable income young people might have available to spend on going out has reduced. As students make up a significant proportion of their clientele, it is a factor that may have contributed towards the gradual downturn in nightclub popularity. This financial strain on young people is further exacerbated in the context of living in London, where living costs such as rent and transport are double those of large university cities such as Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham.
1.3 London-Specific Factors:
1.3.1 Friction With New Residential Developments
London has a population of over 8.5 million people [2016], with the projected growth to reach 10 million by the year 2026[8]. This influx of residents has put growing pressure on the city’s housing stock, creating an exponential demand for new homes within the city. One consequence of this requirement is that residential developments are being built in (or converted from) traditionally commercial or industrial areas. However, these same industrialised areas are home to much of London’s most vibrant and unique nightlife. Marion Roberts discusses this predicament in her book Planning the Night-time City, explaining that “it is conventional to regard run-down industrial areas as a series of development sites ripe for regeneration. Yet, these same industrial buildings have frequently supplied important and appropriate spaces for clubs to start up”[9].
The transformation of defunct industrial sites into nightclubs and music venues is a typical pattern. It has turned previously redundant and run-down areas of the city such as Kings Cross and Shoreditch in the 1980s into cultural beacons for young musical aficionados and dancefloor devotees. Furthermore, Manchester’s Hacienda club was born out of reimagined warehouse and factory spaces.
A prime example of this developing pattern in London (and a warning sign for other semi-industrial areas around the city) is Shoreditch. The last couple of years has witnessed the closure of some of London’s most celebrated clubs. Plastic People in Shoreditch was forced to close after years of disputes with Hackney Council and local resident’s over the club’s noise emittance which was labelled by the council as a “public nuisance”[10]. A similar fate ensued in 2014 for Madame Jojos in Soho, a venue that was once a right of passage for performers such as Adele, and the XX which has now closed and is due to be redeveloped into residential units. Often when new residential developments are established in proximity to an existing music venue there is little dialogue between the local occupant and the venue itself.
This is an extract from an architectural thesis. You can download the full thesis here:
