Trafalgar Place

The design brief required a departure from the alienating size and monotonous, repetitive nature of the Neobrutalist Heygate estate.

A mini-masterplan for the site aimed to reconnect adjacent neighbourhoods. The masterplan prioritises pedestrian movements, giving over 46 per cent of the ground condition to public realm.

The massing and height of the Trafalgar Place buildings provide variety through scale, with a mixture of mini-towers, apartment buildings and townhouses. The triangular shape of the site offered an opportunity to establish a dynamic array of building arrangements and to frame views. It also meant repetition of apartment types was limited – of the 235 apartments, there are 97 different types.

Consideration was given to activation of the ground plane, with residents’ front doors and shared facilities placed strategically, and a retail facility positioned to the southern tip of the site. The creation of the east-west pedestrian route reconnects adjacent neighbourhoods that were cut off by the original Heygate estate.

Two of the buildings are built of cross-laminated timber. The superstructures of these buildings were constructed in six weeks.

Each apartment has been designed from the inside out, maximising usable space and minimising internal corridors. All the homes have either a garden, balcony or roof terrace, while large windows capture natural daylight and establish views across the landscaped site and onto prominent city landmarks.