Specialist student accommodation developer IQ has got the planning green light to tear down London’s former Blackfriars Crown Court to make way for a major student scheme.

The £100m building project on Loman Street in Southwark will see the derelict court building replaced with 600 student rooms and 71 affordable homes.

The post-war block on Pocock Street started life as a printworks for HM Stationery Office before being converted into Blackfriars Crown Court, which finally closed in 2019.

It has remained empty since, aside from a brief stint doubling as a filming location for Netflix’s Top Boy. The large building will now be demolished to make way three major blocks rising to around 9 storeys.

Southwark’s decision gives IQ the go-ahead for a full redevelopment, replacing an adaptive-reuse plan tabled by former site owner Fabrix and designed by Studio RHE.

That 2020 scheme would have kept the 1950s structure and added three new floors on top to create offices, leisure space, retail and a rooftop “urban forest” with pavilions and a glass-bottomed swimming pool. This 430,000 sq ft ‘Roots in the Sky’ scheme was to have been built by Mace.

New site owner IQ has now shifted the strategy to maximise student and affordable housing delivery.

The approved scheme places two new blocks around a landscaped pedestrian route reconnecting Loman Street and Pocock Street.

Double block of student accommodation

A dedicated housing block will provide 71 social rent homes, including street-facing duplexes to bring more activity to the frontage. Upper floors use deck access to guarantee all homes are dual-aspect.

Affordable homes block

The student block echoes the surrounding warehouse and brick architecture with textured elevations, strong horizontal massing and an open ground floor that frames views into the shared gardens and amenity zones.

Work is expected to start on site in 2026 once procurement advances.