Black Sheep

In most peoples everyday blackbook of London, Croydon is known first and foremost for a few simple things; knife-crime, Allders and the Black Sheep bar. Crime, money and alcohol, quite an amazing Achilles heel combination of modern society when you take a step back from it. The knife-crime and Allders part however is ultimately down to ones personal opinion and mine being that I have yet to be stabbed, especially whilst in the death-maze that is the fragrance section of Allders, it is too big. However the Black Sheep bar nestled between corporate offices and a newsagent on the High St is well known by the propane fueled youth of South London and many travel throughout the week by train and the various night buses to soak their teenage angst in snake-bite and jagermeister.

We begin from the entrance doors, there is a bar at the front, three structural columns dividing the following space, then another bar and finally the toilets with trimmings of seating all up the left side and a raised platform with DJ booth on the right. The architecture of the Black Sheep is no doubt fascinating and when one begins to seriously consider the internal spaces and therefore the patterns of movement that are created one can begin to observe this as a reflection of the Black Sheep's elongated yet elementary layout. Flowering from this is a social Eden with each architectural aspect working together to allow for hubs of activity throughout the bar that in turn connect and flourish as the quantity of patrons increases. Almost everywhere in the Black Sheep has purpose you can stand anywhere and you will not feel disorientated, it is an amazing thing to have achieved, even if possibly by accident.

I strongly believe the Black Sheep would be a fascinating experience during the day with all its saucy lights on, a Mies van der Rohe Barcelona chair and a cup of coffee, because I am sure the space dictates differently during the vibrancy of the night. Perhaps the dark corners and crowds though is part and parcel of what makes the Black Sheep appealing, the fact that your spacial judgement and perspective is shrouded by these things and what lies in the depths is up to you alone. So maybe the whole ideology behind the Black Sheep both socially and architecturally is poetic and not prosaic, the idea that anything can be is the mystery and life of the space within.

A great deal of social and architectural changes have infected the Black Sheep bar over the years with many issues being bridged but just as many issues created, which makes guessing the future direction of the bar very difficult. Alas, like a limb being ripped off a movie villain the only suitable way I can see the bar finishing its life in Croydon would be reminiscent of a J.G.Ballard inspired chaotic blowout, the people as Vaughan and the architecture as the car.

tW