Just a few metres from the unerring throng of Streatham High Road at the top of Dorchester Parade, three mock Tudor retail units stood empty in a semi-derelict condition. This project saw us secure the appropriate consents for their demolition and sympathetic replacement. It involved optimising the potential of the prominent site with a building comprised of eighteen apartments and three more substantial Class E units on the ground floor.
Through the design development process, our practiced architects worked collaboratively to test proposed massing concepts in response to pre-application from Lambeth’s planning committee and input from the wider consultant team. The commercial viability of the project was taken with all seriousness, an essential balance being struck between the need to respond sensitively to context and the demand for quality housing in the London borough.
The approved scheme employs a soft terracotta brick palette with sections of undulating patterned brickwork to separate the openings from the first to the fifth floor. The proposed sixth and seventh floors are gently recessed from street level to incorporate blue-green planting sympathetic to the tree-lined street. Subtle as its effect may be, it represents a significant increase of seven additional units upon an initial application on the same site.
