The former Woolwich Covered Market

The former Woolwich Covered Market is a market hall dating from 1936, designed by the Horseley Bridge Engineering Company. It incorporates the walls of the earlier open-air market built in 1932.

The building is steel-framed, with a segmental-arch roof supported on steel stanchions encased in concrete and brick. The roof is clad in corrugated sheeting and glazing. The walls of the 1932 open-air market are of London stock brick with limestone dressings. The market stands on the south side of Plumstead Road, and has a rectangular plan, measuring approximately 29 metres in span and 35 metres in length.

The north-facing principal elevation, overlooking Plumstead Road, features a deep projecting fascia of white boarding with 'PUBLIC MARKET' inscribed in applied lettering. The elevation is divided into three sections by wide tiled stanchions; the outer bays have concertina shutters, and the central section is fully glazed with multiple windows in replacement metal frames. The corrugated sheeting roof arcs gently and includes strips of glazing and a pitched lantern along the apex. The building abuts other structures at either end, and glazed gables rise to the rear. A rear elevation contains brick ancillary structures related to the 1932 market, and a pitched entrance leading into the main market hall.

Internally, the market hall is a single, open-plan space. The exposed steel roof framework comprises short channel-section members, bolted together in pairs to form a diamond lattice, braced with narrow purlins and tie rods. Mechanical and electrical services are attached to the framework, and metal domed light fittings are present. The segmental-arched gable ends are fully glazed with multiple lights in metal frames. Steel warren trusses support the roof; the southern truss is glazed and rests on brick piers, while the northern truss is supported by four concrete stanchions. The brick wall of the 1932 open-air market stands detached from the southern piers, creating a narrow aisle beneath a lean-to roof. This wall contains two doorways with limestone architraves, circular mouldings at the corners, inscribed date stones, and original sliding timber doors. Other internal structures relate to a 2018 conversion to a food market.