Work on £100m resi project expected to start next year

Weston Homes has bought a 4.6 acre former textiles factory site in south-east London to deliver a 254-home scheme.

The housebuilder will start work on the scheme, which was masterplanned by Ian Ritchie Architects and has a gross development value of £100m, later this year.

dylon factory resized

The planned Weston Homes development in Sydenham

The development will consist of two buildings, of between four and 11 storeys, on the site of the former Dylon Dye factory next to Lower Sydenham railway station in Bromley.

The scheme is the second phase of a redevelopment plan for the site, with Crest Nicholson building out phase one, which delivered 223 homes in 2016 and 2017.

The development has a masterplan by Ian Ritchie, with detailed design by Weston Homes’ in-house architectural and design team.

Full planning consent was granted in March. Work is expected to start in late 2022 and take just under two years.

The Dylon (‘Dyes of London’) textiles dyeing factory in Sydenham was founded in 1946 by entrepreneurs Luca Purbeck and Peter Samuel.

The factory provided 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 and Princess Grace of Monaco launching the Dylon range at the 1979 International Homewear Exhibition in Monte Carlo.

In 2008 the factory became surplus to requirements when Mayborn sold Dylon.