Woolwich Road

The site is surrounded on three sides by housing developed as part of the expansion of the railway and road network in the 19th century. We sought from the outset to try and raise the bar in terms of our client’s expectations and provide a crafted contemporary architectural response to a very constrained backland site.

While the client’s budget was constrained, we felt the site deserved an architectural ambition. We felt we could achieve a design that would represent a cost-effective example of two new 21st-century homes that were sustainable, with quality internal spaces, with good levels of light and private amenity spaces.

The development of this former derelict car parking area was influenced by the proximity of its neighbours. This included overlooking and loss of privacy to the adjoining buildings. As such, we felt that the design had to be respectful to its neighbours whilst at the same time being innovative on how the design responded to its constrained urban context.

The introduction of a green roof into the design meant that adjoining neighbours who looked down upon the site are presented with a calm green backdrop, rather than a series of parked cars. We feel such small interventions and gestures can in their own way contribute to improving the local environment.

The geometry of the buildings and palette of materials were all influenced by local buildings, but reinterpreted in a contemporary manner. This extended to the inclusion of horizontal banding to the brickwork at ground-floor, a detail found locally.

Annual CO2 data was not provided