Printworks: The Loss of an Iconic London Venue

Despite a 10,000-strong petition and broader industry intervention efforts, Southwark Council this week announced that the legendary London club Printworks is to be shut down and be turned into offices.

Printworks

The club comprises around six acres of gated land and has seven separate event spaces over multiple levels. Maintaining much of the original interior when it was used for printing (at one point, both The Daily Mail and The Evening Standard were printed there), the venue is known for its unique look.

The closure of Printworks is a devastating blow to the dance music scene in London, as it was once described by the well-respected MixMag as “the saviour London clubbing desperately needed” and was frequently voted into DJ Magazine’s “Top 100 Clubs” list.

Printworks opened in 2017, focussing on electronic music for most of its existence.

Closure

The news of Printworks being turned into offices comes after the owners of the site, British Land, submitted the proposal back in 2021.

While the council acknowledged in their report the success and popularity of the club, they also noted that plans for the site to be an events venue had always been temporary, with a view to the printing site being redeveloped fully in the long run.

Printworks will be replaced with a three-part building with around five to seven floors that play host to a mixture of offices and retail. It is part of a larger redevelopment plan for the area in South London.

British Land also said they are in talks with the Printworks operator Boardwalk Live as they wanted to recognise the role the success of the venue had in revitalising the area. British Land has also said that culture will play an important role in the wider redevelopment, perhaps hinting that the venue could come back in some form in the future.

Looking Ahead

Printworks will be sorely missed by the UK clubbing community, and we hope to see them reappear in some form after the redevelopment of the area it currently resides in.

For those who can’t wait, it’s not all bad, as Boardwalk Live has announced they are opening another venue soon, which will likely be similar to the organisation’s other venues like Printworks and London Tobacco Docks.

Wrapping Up

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