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Murray Grove

Cartwright Pickard, London, 1999

 

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Cartwright Pickard’s Murray Grove housing in Hackney caters for professionals with modest incomes and sets new standards for modular construction 

Martin Charles     Download Original

  • Cartwright Pickard’s Murray Grove housing in Hackney caters for professionals with modest incomes and sets new standards for modular construction    
  • Accommodation is arranged in two strips along Murray Grove and Shepherdess Walk with the lift and stair forming a tower above the entrance    
  • Modular construction and access walkways    
  • The street elevation offers a rewarding interplay between the light external structure and the terracotta panels    
  • Balconies are large enough to accommodate a table and chairs    
  • View from inside the entrance lobby looking out at the street    
  • Kitchens are on the street side offering a degree of acoustic protection to the living space     
  • Kitchens are on the street side offering a degree of acoustic protection to the living space     
  • Inside the stair tower    
  • Circulation area    
  • Location plan    
  • Ground floor plan    
  • Section through stair tower    
  • Section    
  • Room modules fabricated by Yorkon are constructed as a steel monocoque with pre-finished internal walls and injected insulation between plasterboard on the inside and galvanised steel sheet on the outside.     
  • Working detail: cutaway through access deck    
  • Typical plan of access deck    

Apartments built using modular construction methods by the Peabody's Trust as affordable housing for key workers

The site organisation is obvious and straightforward: the accommodation is arranged in two simple bars along Murray Grove and Shepherdess Walk. Living spaces look south-east and south-west into a landscaped courtyard. At the corner, the lift and single stair form a dramatic tower which marks the entrance and gives access to three flats on each wing of the building.

From the base of the tower there are glimpsed views into the courtyard, which is just visible through a portal in the etched glass enclosure to the lift. Flat entrances, bathrooms and kitchens are on the street side, offering a degree of acoustic protection to the living space from the street and the short external access galleries.

This project, providing 30 modular key worker apartments, was the first of its kind to use innovative steel framed modular construction techniques to improve construction quality and reduce time on site.

This building was the only affordable housing scheme in Britain to be awarded 'Millennium Product' status by the Design Council.

Data

  • Begun: Aug 1998
  • Completed: Aug 1999
  • Floor area: 2,150m2
  • Sector: Residential
  • Total cost: £2.3M
  • Tender date: 1998
  • Procurement: Negotiated design-and-construct with Client standard amendments negotiated and agreed with Contractor. jct 81 with Contractor’s Design
  • Address: Murray Grove, Hackney, London, N1 7QP, United Kingdom

Materials

Aluminium, Steel, Timber

Professional Team

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