2009 WINNING SCHEMES > Project Winners

 

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Canning Town is the runt in the London Docklands litter, crawling towards regeneration while its Newham neighbours of Royal Docks and Beckton have long been up and running. Its failure of appeal has a lot to do with layout. The Blitz destroyed more than 60% of the area, but the 30-year rebuild on a site-by-site basis left a frustrating maze of dead ends and too much housing with little regard to the concept of walkable streets.

This proposal for a 3.7 hectare site near Custom House is part of a 15-year area-wide masterplan by Erick van Egeraat, a parcel fine-tuned here by the scheme architect to reuse the surviving fragments of the Victorian neighbourhood to stress it has a new ‘heart’. Clustering a school and amenities around the square will become the area’s focal point.

New housing blocks are planned to reinforce the street pattern with terrace houses book-ended by apartment blocks. A short single-storey wall, connecting one to the other in the same brick, screens small rear parking courts, bicycle stores and bin store provision, while acting as the parapet to a large first-floor terrace.

The terraced streets contain either 3-storey houses, 40 in total, or 2-storey maisonettes with flats over. These are part of the strategy to give as many homes as possible direct access to the street, as well as private garden space, or an outdoor terrace. This focus on accommodation suitable for families is highlighted by the most common unit on offer being a 3-bed apartment at a generous 100 m2, all of which have a second reception room to address competing demands on space.

Single aspect north facing flats have been avoided and the number of dual-aspect flats maximised. Similar thinking about the quality of the residents’ experience can be seen in the internal circulation spaces, which are above average in size and naturally lit and ventilated.

Where the apartment block fronts the street, balconies are set back into the building line so the occupant gets extra privacy and the facade a rigorous rhythm caused by the punch-outs. It’s one of many touches that show a fusion of elegant architecture and consumer awareness.

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