Bruce Grove public toilets

A new lease of life – Bruce Grove café in the former toilets.

We’re thrilled to announce a major milestone for the Bruce Grove toilets and café! After years of dedicated restoration, the space now has a tenant who will soon be serving the local community. The café will be operated by a socially minded business that will offer delicious Italian sandwiches, coffee, soft drinks and more.

The café' will also have public toilet provision available to both customers and the wider public.

About the project

The iconic public toilets in Bruce Grove have been brought back to life with funding from:

  • Haringey Council
  • the Greater London Authority’s Good Growth funding programme
  • Historic England’s High Streets Heritage Action Zone scheme

The restoration sees the toilets brought back to use as a community café and a publicly accessible toilet, pioneering a new Community Wealth Building Lease and make commercial use of the newly extended building.

Our project team has been working closely with local campaign group The Last Elm and heritage consultant Rob Bevan, to capture and protect the significance of the small building, both above and below ground, to ensure it comes off the Historic England ‘at risk’ register.

The toilet was first constructed at the beginning of the 20th century but has deteriorated in the last few decades since it closed its doors in the 1980s.

The design has been carried out by architects at DK-CM and includes an extension to the ground floor with a new garden room to the rear. 

What's next

The restoration is complete and we’re gearing up for an exciting opening in early 2025. Stay tuned for further updates and announcements about how this historic space will come back to life.

Keep up to date

Visit our commonplace website for the latest updates on the project.