44 PROJECT FOCUS - CHIPS
Chips building
By Ruth Slavid
THE CONCEPT OF ‘READING’ A BUILDING ACQUIRES A NEWLY LITERAL QUALITY WHEN YOU LOOK AT ALSOP’S CHIPS BUILDING, RECENTLY COMPLETED IN NEW ISLINGTON, MANCHESTER. GIANT LETTERS ARE SILK-SCREENED ONTO THE EXTERIOR OF THE TRIPLE- LAYER APARTMENT BLOCK, THE MOST VISIBLE SIGN OF RADICAL THINKING FOR A DEVELOPMENT THAT SEEKS TO BRING NEW EXCITEMENT TO HIGH-DENSITY HOUSING, AS WELL AS SPEARHEADING THE REGENERATION OF A DEPRESSED AREA.
The central block is the longest and darkest, with a dramatic cantilever
T
he project is a combination of the sculptural, which one would expect from this practice, and of close attention to the way the apartments themselves and the linking spaces work. This is refreshing, since the design of too many apartment buildings deals only with the externals, rolling out standard interiors plans and hoping that these will not detract from kerb appeal.
Urban Splash was the client for the job and also used its contracting arm to deliver it. ‘The sort of subcontractors they use are very commercial,’ said Ed Norman, associate in charge of the project at Alsop Architects, explaining that expecting the very finest workmanship and sensitivity to detail would not be realistic. But, he added, ‘There’s a strange obsession in this country with detail – I think it is missing the point a lot.’ Instead the practice was interested in materials, and in rethinking key spaces. Rather than fretting about shadow gaps and recessed handles, it has used colour, modular design and bold lighting to create drama and variety within its budgetary constraints.
It has also had to give more than the average degree of thought to sustainability and to disabled access. Urban Splash was fortunate that it released the apartments for sale late in 2005, before the start of the recession. With the exception of a few apartments that were deliberately held back, everything was sold. Manchester Metropolitan Housing Trust bought about 40 per cent of the stock, but imposed its own demanding standards, with regard both to sustainability and to disabled
access. Since the housing trust’s purchases would be spread throughout the block, this meant that all apartments had to be designed to these standards.
In addition, Urban Splash was able to access some additional cash through New Islington’s designation as a Millennium Community. This brought with it additional requirements in turns of sustainability – including a 20% improvement in daylighting beyond the norm.
‘It’s much more difficult to achieve sustainability with high density housing,’ Norman said. The project managed to win an ‘excellent’ rating under Eco Homes, ‘but,’ said Norman, ‘under the standard pro forma you can’t get it.’ For example, Eco Homes requires every dwelling to have its own private outdoor space. Although there are a number of balconies, putting one on every single apartment would not have been viable. Instead the architect created a large open space on the sixth floor that was available to all residents – and argued successfully that this was an acceptable substitute.
The name of the project came from the design concept, of three fat chips piled one on top of the other. Alsop produced the masterplan for the area, of which this was only intended to be one of a number of developments, with different architects designing each block. Unfortunately the recession has stalled most of the other buildings, but the good news is that the landscaping has been put in first, with a new canal forming fingers between the development sites.
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