Safestore's plans for Old Jamaica Road

Safestore is the UK’s largest self-storage provider, with 139 locations throughout the UK, catering to the modern needs of both businesses and the public.

In 2001, we opened the Old Jamaica Road store in Bermondsey, Southwark, which sits within the rail arches. Alongside local residents, today the site supports around 130 small and medium-sized businesses.

With successful trading at the store since we opened over 25 years ago, we now want to build on this by expanding the store onto an adjacent site owned by Safestore.

A revised planning application - in response to feedback

We are now submitting a revised planning application to the London Borough of Southwark, reflecting feedback received on the previous application which was submitted in 2025.

Safestore's previous plans were supported in principle by the council but refused at committee earlier this year.

As part of our revised application, we have made substantial changes, which include a reduction in the massing of the building.

• Currently, the boundary of one of the buildings on site is within two metres of Queens Court at their closest points.
• Safestore’s previous planning application proposed a 19.2 metre gap between our facility and Queens Court.
• In response to feedback, our revised planning application proposes an even bigger gap of 22.7 metres, which is 3.5 metres more than the previous planning application.

This is significantly greater than the minimum recommended distance in urban locations, and more than the separation between many residential blocks in nearby streets.

The revised plans also include a reduction in the overall size of the facility, with the top part of the building stepped back by a further three metres compared to the previous application.

As with the previous plans, the proposed building would be lower than neighbouring residential buildings, including Queens Court and the Pitman Building. Our revised plans have been tested and continue to show there would be no unacceptable impacts on daylight/sunlight, overlooking or privacy.

We have also responded to comments about the design of the building, to ensure it is further integrated into its surroundings and enhances the street scene.

The key design changes include introducing a greater mix of materials, such as more brickwork detailing and planting to soften the north and east façades, where they will be seen by residential neighbours and pedestrians.

Click here to see our revised plans

Answers to questions we’ve received about our proposals are available on our FAQs page.