Opening Up The North Laine Gateway
Brighton Toy and Model Museum renovation project will bring light and life to the top of Trafalgar Street, making it the “North Laine Gateway”
One of the first things visitors to Brighton see is a gloomy underpass daubed with graffiti and strewn with old posters and stickers. It’s funny to think that this underpass houses one of Brighton and Hove’s most individual visitor attractions: Brighton Toy and Model Museum.
Brighton Toy and Model Museum, working alongside Benedict O’Looney Architects and the Railway Heritage Trust, have submitted a planning application to replace the modern brickwork which fills the Victorian arches with glazing to regenerate the area by bringing light and life to the underpass, making Trafalgar Street the “Gateway to the North Laine”.
Brighton and Hove Tourism Alliance and Network Rail are also involved in regeneration proposals, with plans of their own to improve the space beneath Brighton Railway Station’s entrance. Their contribution to the project includes a plan for the removal of the tattered posters and graffiti at the top of Trafalgar Street, replacing it with an attractive new mural instead.
The Railway Heritage Trust has pledged 40% of the structural costs, and with an additional 10% from the Toy Museum, we are already at the halfway mark and are now looking for additional partners to help with match-funding. North Laine is a vibrant area known for its many quality independent traders, but is often overlooked as visitors head straight from the station to the sea. If you are able to contribute to this fantastic scheme, please contact Brighton Toy and Model Museum.
Jan Etches, Brighton Toy and Model Museum’s General Manager said “We are keen to use this opportunity to regenerate our end of Trafalgar Street so that visitors to Brighton get a much improved first impression of the city and also draw their attention to Trafalgar Street and the other wonderful North Laine independent traders. We hope that everyone gets as excited about this project to improve our community as we are!”