30 PROJECT REPORT: MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS


© Paul Riddle


© Paul Riddle


RETAINING THE EXISTING TWO-STOREY HIGH TREES IS AN OBVIOUS EXAMPLE OF A SUSTAINABILITY WIN


WWW.HBDONLINE.CO.UK


2019 to design West Phase 1 and submit a reserved matters application detailing the size and scale of the blocks. The Right to Buy receipts held by the council helped to fund the scheme, includin  hoes for the first hase (providing much higher density than the original 40 on the site). The majority of the funding came from the GLA’s Housing Zone and Affordable Homes Programme. Willson points out that the density was already increasin sinificantly on the west side of Abbey Road, one of the site’s perimeters, “and there are a lot of regeneration initiatives in Barking town centre to support that.” He said that with the contet firly in ind, we worked really hard with the architects on how we distributed the massing, where we put the tall buildings.” Phase 2 is denser, “because it’s closer to the town centre, and public transport nodes.” Willson explains that Barking and Dagenham has “huge waiting lists, huge housing need,” including homelessness issues. But building more densely has various benefits, includin sustainable land use, although Be First are still incorporating terraces of townhouses,


integrated with the higher density blocks on Phases 1 and 2. Phase 2 (completing in March 2024) goes up to 20 stories, whereas the tallest block on Phase 1 is 13 stories. And not despite the mix of medium and high-rise blocks, but assisted by it, the developer asserts that they are “pushing the boundaries on design quality, placemaking and sustainability.” Within Phase 1, the 201 homes are roughly a fairly typical 60/40 split of affordable to private rented sector (122 affordable, 79 private rented). The private market rents turn out for the one bed at £1400 per month, and £1700 per month for the two beds, and the affordable homes are at a set scale of discounted rates. The big story is that in Phase 1 alone, the number of affordable homes has increased from 40 units to 122. There were many of the usual constraints of similar schemes, from the red line boundaries of the perimeter of this narrow site, to the fact that in order to make the high number of affordable homes viable, the density had to be pushed up. “There were a lot of very close residents,” says Jacob Willson, “this is an existing neighbourhood” – this


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84