26 SOCIAL HOUSING PROJECT REPORT


arranged over a more modestly- proportioned seven to nine storeys. The original master plan, when Lindhill was developer, proposed the building as three separate blocks of different heights arranged in a C shape, with a north-facing space to the rear. Pitman Tozer challenged this strategy, instead proposing a single block turned on its axis to create a sunny south-facing courtyard. Pitman Tozer’s design pushed the building height up by two storeys, which according to Tozer “needed justifi cation” if the scheme was to gain planning consent from LLDC, the local planning authority at the time. A much greater emphasis was therefore put on design quality to demonstrate an intention “to create good-quality homes and good-quality spaces.”


The building’s design and massing took shape through collaborative workshops and sessions with LLDC’s Quality Review Panel. When the Guinness Partnership took charge of the project in 2018 it introduced a new set of Employers’ Requirements, including the transition from mixed tenure to 100% affordable and social housing. Bulrush Court effectively provides 50% of the overall affordable housing provision at Leaside Lock. The housing crisis is particularly acute


in Tower Hamlets, a recent report by the Big Issue found that 28% of 21,884 people on the council’s housing waiting list have been on it for at least a decade. In addition, the developer wanted the overall number of homes reduced from 152 to 144, and a greater variety of dwelling sizes, including a higher proportion of family units.


SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE


Bulrush Court delivers a 44% reduction in regulated CO2


emissions,


surpassing Part L 2013 requirements, which applied when the project was designed. Low carbon heat and power is supplied by integrated photovoltaic panels on the roof and connection to an existing district heat network, powered by a central energy centre. Key energy-effi cient design strate-


gies include upgraded insulation, low U-value double-glazed windows, low-energy lighting, and mechanical ventilation heat recovery systems that help reduce operational carbon. Embodied carbon was not


measured, but the project exploits low-carbon materials such as recycled steel and low-carbon concrete, while modular construction techniques helped minimise waste and transporta- tion emissions.


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Studios and apartments range in size from 50.1 m2


to 97 m2 with the larger


units positioned on the corners and benefi ting from a dual-aspect and cross ventilation. Access corridors run internally north-south through the centre of the wings, meaning smaller studios and one-beds only have a single aspect. Other design changes were introduced in the wae of the renfell ower fi re in 2017. Although Dame Judith Hackitt’s review of Building Regulations and fi re safety had not yet been published, triggering major changes to legislation, the developer was een to upgrade fi re safety, particularly with the introduction of a second staircase for evacuation – now a legal requirement in blocs of fl ats  metres or more in height.


“The developer was extremely cautious and rightly concerned about fi re safety,” said Tozer. After submitting a non material amendment, planning permission was granted and the architect developed the scheme ready to tender, also working on behalf of the client during project delivery to monitor quality.


FOCAL POINT


The strong architectural character of ulrush Court was infl uenced by mansion blocks of the 1930s, which sprang up as London went through a period of densifi cation as the citys geography and the railway network expanded. Praised for providing high density living at a human scale, the typology is familiar to Pitman Tozer. Mint Street, a 67-unit block in Bethnal Green, as a 21st-century reinterpretation of the traditional mansion block and The Reach, a block of 66 homes in Thamesmead also wraps around a central courtyard with generous balconies overlooking the space.


“The mansion block typology is something we’ve been sympathetic to for a while in terms of the language of architecture,” says oer, oday were in an era where land, money and carbon are very precious, so the need to build densely and at a high level of quality mae this a good model to replicate.” Rather than being an ‘object’ building, Bulrush Court was conceived to counteract the fragmentation of the local area by hard transport infrastructure. The site is close to Bromley-by-Bow tube station, bound to the south by the railway line, to the east by the River Lee navigational canal and to the north by Imperial Street and a Tesco supermarket. “There’s lots of infrastructure around it, so this was about trying to use the building to create a higher quality set of urban spaces,” said oer. hese include an open public square to the west, and the courtyard for building residents, the building will also form part a walk between the underground station and the canal, when phase three, currently on site, is fi nished.


The building’s four different edge conditions respond to the adjacent buildings, landscape, and the river, with brick being fundamental to the architectural identity, used to add colour, texture and depth.


A plinth of dark violet/purple engineered bricks wraps around the entire base of the building up to around sill level, disguising level changes and aligning with the tradition of darker bases to brick buildings in London. The civic face, fronting onto Imperial Street, is the most formal, featuring alternating bands of deep red and brown bricks, resulting in a linear form, intersected vertically by a regular grid of windows and inset balconies. There are two sizes of opening across the facade, and two pier sizes, designed to instil a rational sense of order and rhythm. This banding partially wraps around onto the courtyard elevation before transitioning, where the entrances to the cores are located on each wing, into a lighter mottled red brickwork designed


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