17 December - The Last House on The Left
The following illustrated review of Sidcup’s new library has been submitted by @tonyofsidcup,
gearing up to replace Mick Barnbrook and Nicholas Dowling from days of yore. The
text has not been edited in any way but when considering the building’s ugliness
one should perhaps remember that cinema architecture cannot be relieved with
windows. On the other hand Oscar Deutch built some beauties in the 1930s. (Oscar
Deutsch Entertains Our Nation. ODEON.)
As is probably apparent from the text, @tony has his roots in the old U.S.S.R. I
am in awe of his command of the English language, I changed a single ‘o’ to an ‘a’. He
may have meant wonder but the context suggested wander.
No school today, so in the morning my wife took our daughter to the
opening of Sidcup’s new library, while I stayed at home working. A little later she sent me a photo from the
cafeteria there, showing Council Leader Teresa O’Neill, Cabinet Member for Places Peter Craske and Bexley’s CEO Jackie Belton
sharing a table with people who I assumed to be representatives of
Really Local Group. This piqued my interest, and I had the excuse of needing to return a library book
- “Bad Guys”, as it happens - so I put on my coat and headed out.
At the entrance I was courteously greeted by Cabinet Member Munur, looking
positive and busy; there was a similarly upbeat Ms Belton chatting to a librarian, and Cabinet Member Craske and
Sidcup Ward councillors June Slaughter and Richard Diment were socialising in the cafeteria. I
handed “Bad Guys” to one of the nice librarian ladies, joined my family - my
daughter was lifting a chair and demanding her superstrength be acknowledged - and we went home.
Later in the day, I returned, with my laptop, and spent three hours at one of
the library’s desks, working but also looking around and listening to conversations between librarians
and visitors. Maybe 30-40 people wandered in, told the librarians they were glad the library finally
re-opened, and asked them when the cinema would be opening. (“Sometime next year”). After 4 pm,
parents with schoolchildren started coming in, and the children’s area grew crowded.
Unfortunately, cold became a problem - I had a warm jacket on, but my fingers started freezing - so I
had to curtail my expedition and go home.
What are my impressions? “Mixed feelings” is an easy answer. The upside is
easy to see - it’s a brand new building, with tall ceilings and fresh carpets and furniture. The new
library cost millions, and of course, something good had to come for the money. But it could have been a lot better.
The new library feels cold, and this is not just about the thermostat setting. The tall ceilings create
room, but make the space less snug. The big windows give you a view of a busy road, as seen from
the lower-ground floor - distracting and unappealing. The ceiling is exposed concrete - with
occasional rough patches and stains - and there are exposed-concrete sections of the wall as well.
You can call it “modern” or “Scandinavian”, but “cosy” it ain’t.
(Speaking of a busy road. I twice saw children from the nearby CTK St. Mary’s college walk on the
road, next to the fenced-off, unpaved footpath, to get to the high street.
This reminded me that in 2022 a person was seriously injured at this spot when trying to cross. I
blame the council staff who did not care to think about a convenient temporary road crossing. It’s
Bexley Tories’ [former Councillor Alan] Downing Doctrine: “If your child gets hit by a car, it’s your fault”).
More importantly, the new library feels cramped and oddly laid out. The building looks big, but the
library feels small - not a space of its own, but a partitioned-off section of a bigger space. You look
around and wonder: where has the space gone? The old library was a square; the new library is a
strip, with the adults’ area near the entrance, the front desk and the computer room in the middle,
and the children’s area at the back. The old library had three meeting rooms; the new library has
none. (Admittedly, they may be upstairs, and there is an under-construction space at the back, which
may become a meeting room). I feel pretty confident saying that the overall area shrank.
As often happens in Bexley, children lose out the most. I remember my daughter’s school class going
to the old library last year. The twenty 4-year-olds browsed books in the
spacious children’s area - plenty of room for them and for the accompanying parents and teachers - then
sat on the floor and listened to the teacher read them a story. Forget doing that in the new library; there is not enough
room even if you move a couple of large, wheeled bookshelves out of the way. Never mind school
trips - I would say the children’s area can accommodate two families at a time. Where do you put your
buggy or scooter? Where do you put your coat and backpack? The downgrade of the children’s area
is stark. A pleasant space, suitable for sitting and reading, a little running around, doing crafts has
been taken away and replaced with a storage room with an IKEA sofa
…We get to decor. The new library is fitted out in an inexpensive institutional style. It’s like with
everything from the exterior design, to the entrance door, to the tiles on the cafeteria floor, to the
chairs, to the toilet sinks, Bexley said “Give me the second-cheapest option”. I cannot recall a single
item that looked fancy or unique. A parquet section of the floor looked sort of interesting, but it did
not look durable. There is some wood panelling but it appears to be soft wood: graffiti would be a disaster.
Finally, the new library has a very underwhelming cafeteria, whether you are with a kid or on your
own. The prices are on the high side - £2·75 for a plain croissant - but the main problem is very
limited choices: a few pastries and biscuits in a small display case.
Apart from some concrete surfaces that may be covered up or painted, the library looks finished. The
building it’s in is, of course, work in progress. Back in Soviet times, woe would befall a construction
boss who committed to build a house by November 7th, the anniversary of the Great October (yes,
October) Socialist Revolution, and failed to meet the deadline. Bexley bosses clearly felt that they had
to deliver Sidcup Storyhouse - originally advertised to open in Spring 2022 - by Christmas 2022, and
moved the goalposts by opening just the library. First Secretary O’Neill got her Christmas photo op -
and let “miserable rumour mongers” (to use Cllr Slaughter’s expression) grumble about construction
delays and the occasional defects, including three very visible chips on the plinth adorning the Sidcup Storyteller facade.
Eventually, the cinema will open, the flats will be occupied, the footpath adjoining the ugly building’s
western wall will be paved - and maybe even the chips will be fixed or covered up. Sadly, the ugly
design will remain, a reminder of a missed opportunity. Sidcup Storyteller could have been
something special, a genuine attraction, like Newham’s Discover Centre in Stratford, or, more
modestly, Kent’s White Oak Leisure Centre in Swanley. Due to indifference and incompetence of the
local Tory politicians - from big beasts like Teresa O’Neill and Peter Craske down to the useless local
councillors, loath to rock the boat and lose their £10,000 p.a. sinecures - we ended up with something
at best mediocre. Sidcup Storyteller: it’s better than nothing.
