90 Masterplan for landscape and urban housing, Newham, London 1 Client Barratt East London / London Development Agency Project duration: 005-1 Contract value: 10 million Gross internal area: 71,000m Housing and mixed use development of 1,000 apartments on reclaimed industrial site, for Barratt East London / London Development Agency In association with Broadway Malyan, London 1 Image describing an urban character Landscape plan
1 Landscaped gardens Section drawing
1 Public realm Model view
1 View of courtyard Internal view of apartment
The scheme provides a wide range of apartments from individual to family sized homes, of mixed tenure, covered and secure car parking, open hard and soft landscaped areas of different scale and varying use and a range of non-residential uses from retail, office space and public facilities including a community crèche. Six buildings are organised around south facing landscaped courtyards. The buildings range in scale from five to eleven residential floors on a one to two storey plinth which houses entrances, car parking and non-residential uses. There is no singular landmark building within the development but instead the development is understood as a highly designed whole a piece of unified urban landscape which makes an appropriate background for city life and one which is connected to the wider urban context through access, route, view, massing, form, proximity and use. The architectural concept for the design of the building envelope has been to establish an overall identity for all of the buildings within the development which then may be modified in detail for each of the six buildings to take account of specific factors like internal planning and apartment type, orientation, view, proximity and scale. The concept establishes an architectural language, which is urban in character, using traditional materials and highly articulated in its tectonic ordering, layering of materials and proportion. The architecture is not intended to be flamboyant but instead to be careful and considered, making an appropriate and high quality addition to the architecture of the city. The grand scale of the buildings and their need to accommodate large numbers of people leads to an architecture which must employ repetition of elements and this has led the design to make reference to the warehouse buildings of the 19th Century and condominiums of the 0th Century which lie around and adjacent to the site. The design of the elevations acknowledges that there are two principle conditions in which to engage: outward facing facades with orientation towards the surrounding context of park, river, DLR, Tradewinds, North Woolwich Road and inward looking facades which surround and protect courtyards for each building. The starting point of the elevational detail was the variable figure and massing of each building form and its relationship to the ground. Each building volume emerges from a plinth-like base which varies between one and two storeys depending on the levels around the site. This plinth creates a visual datum from which residential floors rise and it is intended through its detail and material to have a strong relationship with the landscaping around it. Coloured concrete walls form this base with large window openings indicating the non residential uses or car parking areas with vertical plant walls incorporated on some elevations to provide acoustic and visual screening. Entrances to the apartments are by double storey arcaded porches which abut the plinth and project beyond the building envelope becoming highly visible extensions to the buildings. Each building volume is capped with a deep horizontal element. Made of concrete the capping projects beyond the face of the building envelope by varying degrees and provides a strong visual termination to the elevational arrangement below it. The effect of this multiple layering of elements; capping, frame, infill panel, windows and balconies is of a rich and variable façade treatment in which multiple elements are arranged to provide a sense of human scale to large building forms. The many differences within the whole make visual reference to the multiple and individual ownership and occupation within the building the strength of the whole being due to the composition of individual parts. The choice of materials and employment of colour is an important aspect of the façade design. The design proposes a predominant use of brick on the outward facing facades and of coloured render on the inward facing facades. A variety of brick types will be used and chosen to emphasise different aspects and outlooks around the development. A predominantly white/buff brick is proposed on facades facing the park, creating visual contrast to the vegetation and grass in a similar manner already apparent on the other side of the park with Barrier Point. Other elevations will have a variety of earthy, over-fired, plumb red and brown brick surfaces and on facetted facades (where the building forms chamfer) a charcoal black brick is proposed to emphasise its volumetric and three dimensional form. On inward facing facades, a palette of softer colours are employed to resonate with the courtyard landscaping. Each courtyard is proposed to be treated in a different tonal mix to emphasise the specific identity and character of each courtyard. The specification of brick types and colour renders remains contingent at this stage but it is important for the design that these provide a carefully co-ordinated ambience of colour and texture. Client: Barratt East London / LDA Collaborator: Broadway Malyan