Application to expand La Lanterna

La Lanterna, the restaurant on Brockley Road that has been closed for several months, is now the subject of a planning application to expand the ground floor restaurant and convert the upper floors in to bed-and-breakfast accommodation and one small flat:

The change of use of the upper floor at 179 Brockley Road SE4 from HMO to hotel (Use Class C1) together with the construction of a part one part/two storey extension at the rear to provide additional restaurant area, kitchen and store rooms, plus additional hotel accommodation and 1, self-contained 2 bedroom flat accessed from Harefield Mews.

In its current configuration, the restaurant is divided from the building on Harefield Mews by a small courtyard, used for storage. The plan is to put a roof over the courtyard to create a new, larger restaurant space while adding a first floor extension to the rear of the site on Harefield Road.

The application has been submitted on behalf of current owner, Biagio, which also owns a number of other sites in London. HMO stands for "Houses of Multiple Occupancy", which would be replaced by rooms with en-suite bathrooms, which suggests they aren't planning to go for the hostel market.

The restaurant would get a new frontage and new access to the hotel, but otherwise the building will look little different than it does today. If done properly, with a high-quality finish and a commitment to serving good food, this could be the kind of dramatic intervention which this parade has long been in need of.

What do you think?

With thanks to Bea.