Designs went on display this week showing the long-awaited plans to revamp the square facing Peckham High Street and Rye Lane, and neighbouring Will Alsops Stirling Prize-winning Peckham Library.The scheme involves levelling the ground below the soon-to-be-removed Peckham Arch to create a new entrance to the square which could host market space.The masterplan includes a multi-use space with fountains that could hold events. Other features include new planting, lighting and seating, play areas and a series of paving carpets with different bold, geometric patterns.AdvertisementThe AJ understands the proposed removal of the Peckham Arch is a Southwark Council decision and follows a structural survey completed last year. The 35m canopy structure, designed by John McAslan, has sat at the entrance to the square since 1994.The future of Peckham Arch first came under the spotlight nine years ago when Southwark Council approved a Carl Turner Architects scheme which was never realised. Those plans, which included the removal of McAslans structure, faced local opposition over the planned removal of the local landmark.Spheron then became the second practice to take on the job following a council-run contest in 2021. That scheme also hit the buffers.A Southwark Council spokesperson had previously confirmed that, if Peckham Arch were not included in a final design, its relocation to another site was not under consideration.Speaking to the AJ in 2023, local architect Benedict OLooney said the Peckham Arch should be restored as an example of 1990s High-Tech architecture and a significant early work by Troughton McAslan, beautifully detailed in steel and in-situ concrete work.AdvertisementOLooney continued: It is a modern version of the town loggia (eg the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence), an open but covered market space, to be found wonderfully surviving in Renaissance structures in the market squares of Ledbury, Faversham, Peterborough and so many other places.The neighbouring Stirling Prize-winning Peckham library by Will Alsop reopened in 2023 following a refurbishment which included energy efficiency improvements. However, controversy surrounds the proposed installation of plant equipment on the roof.Southwark Council appointed Graeme Massie and Scott Whitby to develop designs for Peckham Square in 2023 following acompetitive tendering process involving architects on the councils ADS framework, building on Spherons early design work and consultation efforts.The masterplan extends northwards into Surrey Canal Walk and west to include the area immediately south of the Peckham Pulse Leisure Centre.An agreement has also been signed to make 91-93 Peckham High Street a new home for local arts charity Peckham Platform, designed by local practice Knox Bhavan, to the south-east of the Peckham Square masterplan.A planning application for Peckham Square will be submitted this year.Architects statement Graeme MassiePeckham is one of the most diverse areas in the UK, with a wide range of ethnicities and age groups. However, at present the square does not have an identity which promotes this diversity. The square is rather homogeneous, with neutral, hard landscaping to the fore. It lacks a real sense of joy and is not a place which encourages users to linger.To make a space which is truly reflective of everyone is one of the key tasks for the project. The project aims not prioritise one type of user over another, but to be inclusive, safe and welcoming.The square adopts a pluralist approach with a range of interconnected spaces of differing character. The aim is to accommodates multiple uses at any one time, as well as being a backdrop for day-to-day life. It is a space of both/and rather than either/or.Peckham Square, Graeme Massie Architects and Scott Whitby Studio