A new community garden and cafe may soon be created in the existing car park of Zodiac Court on London Road. The planning application submitted to Croydon Council also includes five new flats.

The block of flats was once famous as the home to Mark and Jez in Peep Show where it was called Apollo house.

The brutalist building has been empty since the 1960s, but now the four-floor office block is being transformed into apartments by Architect Shedkm and development company Common Projects.

The planning application said: “The new lower ground floor elevation will be a significant improvement to the existing louvred bays and will help to activate a dead and troublesome area, improving the streetscape through activation and a continued residential language.”

The plans also include a new ‘Broad Green Common’ which would be a green space and community pavilion on the corner of London Road and Charfield Road.

The space could include a play area, allotment or outdoor gym while the pavilion would be available for local community groups.

Steve Sanham, director of Common Projects, said the company has been working with local groups coordinated by Big Local Broad Green to come up with ideas for the area.

He said: “We plan to bring a ‘common’ back to Broad Green on the site of a former formal gardens, creating a new setting for Zodiac Court, and a new focal point on London Road for the Broad Green community.”

While Queenie Chizea, Co-Chair of community group Big Local Broad Green, said: “Broad Green is rich in history, riddled with character and full of so much potential.

“I’m excited to see the growth and regeneration of the Broad Green area with the birth of a space that will serve as a modern safe, green, welcoming positive and friendly space for locals, and we are so proud to be able to support what will serve as a legacy in the Broad Green ward of Croydon.”