Central Library works underway
Bromley Council is relocating Bromley Central Library to a new site in a prime high street location at 145, High Street, formerly the ‘Top Shop’ .
Significant progress is being made on delivering this new home of Bromley Central Library, as major external works are being completed.
Residents will notice information panels are now set up around the former Top Shop Unit of Bromley High Street to provide protection during the works, as the site is transformed to become the home of Bromley Central Library that will open to residents in late 2026. Fado Construction have been appointed to deliver the works at the new Central Library.
The existing library next to Churchill Theatre remains open to serve residents until after the Summer exams, while some adjustments to the service are needed ahead of this to allow for preparations for the move to progress. An agreement to secure the future of the Churchill Theatre has also been reached.
The Bromley Historic Collections have been moved into temporary storage, ready to be relocated into the replacement Archive, museum and art storage building that is being built following Planning Approval granted in February 2026. Access to the archive collections currently remains available by appointment only. Find the latest Historic Collections information online.
While the Halls on Floor 4 and the Meeting Room on Floor 5 at the library are no longer available for booking as preparations for the library move continue, other booking rooms remain available at the library and across the borough’s wider library network. Find the latest information about the Bromley Central Library service.
Design concepts
Thank you for all those who have provided feedback to help guide the designs for the new library. Over 1,300 responses were received, providing valuable feedback from residents, library users and non-users, staff, schools and local stakeholders.
Our design concepts set out the potential layout for the ground floor and first floor of the new library.
The ground floor would be accessed directly from the High Street and would contain:
- casual study/meeting areas
- popular fiction and non-fiction books
- an event space
- an expanded children’s library including storytelling area (‘snug’)
- accessible toilets, including a ‘Changing Places’ toilet.
The first floor would be accessible by stairs and a lift, and would contain:
- a modern study space
- IT facilities
- further fiction and non-fiction
- reference books
- newspapers/periodicals
- enhanced local history centre
- meeting/business rooms for hire
- further accessible toilets