Leading volume housebuilder Weston Homes has acquired a 4.6 acre site in London’s Sydenham, formerly part of the DYLON textiles dyeing factory complex, which will be transformed into a new £100 million (GDV) high quality residential development providing 254 apartments, undercroft basement parking, new children’s play space and landscaped gardens.

Weston Homes has purchased the DYLON site with the benefit of full planning consent, granted in March 2021, the scheme forms a Phase II of the redevelopment of the DYLON textiles dyeing factory complex, Phase I, providing 223 apartments, being undertaken in 2016-17 by Crest Nicholson. Construction of the new development is anticipated to start in late 2022 with a 20 month build programme.

Located next to Lower Sydenham Railway Station, bounded by Station Approach and Worsley Bridge Road, the new Weston Homes development has a masterplan by award winning architectural practice Ian Ritchie Architects, with detailed design by Weston Homes in-house architectural and design team. It is comprised of two buildings, rising between four and eleven storeys in height, stepped up from south to north, with 121 parking bays and a large communal resident’s garden extending down towards the Pool River, as well as a new lit river walk.

The contemporary buildings will have full height windows, balconies and tiered roofscapes complete with feature London Yellow Stock brickwork, providing a connection to nearby residential buildings.

The DYLON site has a colourful history. The DYLON (‘Dyes of London’) textiles dyeing factory in Sydenham was founded in 1946 by entrepreneurs Luca Purbeck and Peter Samuel providing colourful dyes for clothing, curtains and other household goods, the vibrant colours aimed at brightening up the spirits of families across post war Britain.

By the 1970s DYLON had become part of the Mayborn Group, with the firm’s dyes being sold in 70 countries around the world with the DYLON range at the 1979 International Homewear Exhibition in Monte Carlo opened by HSH Princess Grace of Monaco (Grace Kelly).

In 2008 the DYLON factory became surplus to requirements when the Mayborn Group sold DYLON International to the European Spotless Group, with planning for conversion of the site to residential started in 2010.

With Lower Sydenham Railway Station (TfL Travel Zone 4) just 200 metres to the north, the new residential development will provide direct access into central London in 25 minutes, with access to the south circular motorway network only three miles to the north.

Bob Weston, Chairman and Manging Director at Weston Homes says: “The acquisition of the DYLON Factory Works site in up-and-coming Lower Sydenham will enable Weston Homes to deliver a new apartment scheme which is perfect for first time buyers and young couples/families. This new outer London development is part of our ongoing major growth and expansion. The business has a highly diverse range of developments, including a series of major landmark schemes commencing and many others in the pipeline.”

Over the last five years (2017-2021) Weston Homes has purchased land sites that will deliver £2.13 billion (Gross Completed Value) worth of residential and mixed use development across outer London and the South East which includes 20 current active sites and over 7,500 new homes in the pipeline including traditional housing and large scale urban regeneration projects.

Projects include the £350 million Abbey Quays urban village in Barking, the £60 million Grade II listed Cambridge Military Hospital in Aldershot. the £0.5 billion 10.4 acre Lorimer Village in Goodmayes, the £50 million Town Quay Wharf in Barking, the £53 million Victoria Central in Southend-on-Sea and the £85 million The Laundry Works in Watford.