PROJECT REPORT: RETIREMENT LIVING & CARE HOMES
“acknowledges the scale of the adjoining residential development,” while creating terraces for larger apartments situated on the roof, PRP has provided generous views to residents and access to outside, with all apartments having balconies, terraces at ground floor level, or larger terraces at third floor level.
All of the flats are south-facing, as are two of the garden courts. The residents’ communal facilities, which occupy most of the ground floor of both the central wing to the south and adjoining block to the east, and are shared by older people from the wider community, are double aspect, opening onto south and north facing courtyard gardens. The two remaining gardens to the north are exclusively for residents. Walker describes the architecture as “contemporary and robust,” with crafted, buff-coloured brickwork with deep reveals. He continues: “The scheme successfully integrates into its domestic setting; the rhythm of surrounding Victorian terraces is expressed across the street-facing facade through the fenestration and brickwork detailing.”
PRP took a sensitive approach to the language of the design; specifying brick to complement the adjacent residential developments. The subtle detailing on the facade rotates bricks 45 degrees in sections to link each balcony with its adjacent window; externally signalling each rental unit as a separate entity.
Aluminium timber composite windows are paired with fully-glazed cantilevered PPC steel balconies, which jut out at intervals across the buildings’ elevations. Slightly contrasting with the brick below, dark timber shingles clad the top floor, contributing to a reduction in the building’s mass.
Intergenerational engagement The site sits directly adjacent to Chiddingstone House, which houses a four- storey block of maisonette social housing apartments built in the 1970s, and is just south of the new building. It previously included a large space to the rear set out as drying yards, storage sheds and a row of garages, which was underused by Chiddingstone House residents, and so was reallocated by Lewisham Council for the new development.
Consultation with the residents was undertaken, which included discussion on the re-provision of storage and the protection of the level of parking they
ADF APRIL/MAY 2020 © PRP & Richard Chivers
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formerly had access to. Walker credits this decision as one of the key opportunities realised on the site, resulting in “a revamped shared external space where parking is managed and children can play safely.” The architects hope that the scheme catalyses interaction between people of all different ages in the community. The gardens for the later living block are enclosed by brick walls with a porous grate- effect; this allows light and glimpses into them from the shared external space, and
STEPPING BACK
The new block stands at four storeys, with the third floor stepping back from the facade on the north and south elevations
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