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PROJECT REPORT: RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
© Peter Langdown DETAILS
The ornate brickwork design (realised by Lee Marley Brickwork) included 36 types of special angled bricks plus hit and miss sections
and access to a communal roof garden.“ At ground level, setbacks allow for soft landscaping, defensible spaces, and a future pedestrian route, while the enclosed winter gardens provide acoustic and air quality protection.”
It was an important element of the design that the building – including communal areas and the apartments themselves – be tenure-blind. The ground fl oor residential lobby is just that, and “activates the street corner,” explain HNW Architects, “while the single storey replacement community space on the southern corner benefi ts from multiple aspects.” Active frontages were a priority, providing natural surveillance, and it was also important that the community spaces be fl exible and complement the Al-Manaar Centre. Necessary residential services, such as
refuse, cycle storage and the substation were “carefully integrated” to minimise their impact visually.
The apartments are a mix of one-,
two-, and three-bedrooms, all with a fully enclosed balcony or winter garden. The family sized homes were mostly designated for social rent, responding to local demand. All three-bedroom apartments feature ensuites, as do the majority of the two-beds. There are two stair cores which serve the lower levels, up to the residents’ terrace on the third fl oor. Meeting new regulations, there are two lifts – one of which is for fi refi ghters – and these offer access to all fl oor levels including the wheelchair accessible apartments. “Private winter
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© HNW Architects
gardens enhance acoustic comfort for all homes, shielding them from the elevated Westway,” HNW Architects adds.
Prioritising sustainability While a high quality design and fi re elements were of the utmost importance, that’s not to say sustainability factors fell by the wayside. In fact there are a “suite of environmentally conscious measures,” HNW Architects explain, aligning with RBKC’s “commitment to green building practices, and ensuring the building becomes increasingly sustainable with the greening of the grid.” The council’s “green commitment” has seen it fi tting all new homes with double glazing, to help “lead the transition to net zero.”
The design and construction of the building utilised a fabric fi rst approach. High levels of both insulation and airtightness were integrated into the construction, and thermally-effi cient windows and doors were installed to both minimise energy loss while reducing running costs for residents. In order to reduce waste and lifecycle costs, materials were carefully chosen based on their durability and longevity. The building also utilises air source heat pumps, in order to reduce the use of fossil fuels.
A challenging build As well as the elevated Westway road, the site is also near multiple tube lines, making the construction process “notably challenging,” says HNW Architects.
ADF MARCH 2025
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