Commercial Way

Client: Weston Williamson

Previous regeneration on the North Peckham Estate had left two vacant sites, divided by a busy road. Temporary buildings had been cleared from the sites with the exception of two brick water towers which had become local landmarks.

The challenge was to deliver new homes while also creating a sense of place and improving the public realm.

Two gateway blocks rise to nine storeys, framing a new public space. Perimeter blocks to either side wrap around new landscaped courtyard gardens, creating space for play, as well as integrating the retained and repaired water towers, celebrating their function as familiar landmarks.

The tenure-blind development contains 109 new homes: 35 homes for shared ownership and 74 for social rent. The unit mix aims to respond to local needs with a range of one to four-bed homes, including eight wheelchair-adapted units.

The principal façade overlooking the park has vertical brick piers and horizontal precast concrete elements, enclosing a series of deep private balconies for the upper-floor flats and external space for ground-level units. This 'architectural screen' also acts as a sound buffer to the road.

Elsewhere, a material palette of pale brick, powder-coated steel railings and granite pavers aims to unite the development with the existing estate.

Material concept, design and fabrication:

Elena Shilova - Architect, Grimshaw, Andy Watts - Director of Design Technology, Grimshaw, Armor Gutierrez Rivas - UEL Senior Lecturer in Architecture, Alan Chandler - UEL Dean of Research, Bamdad Ayati - UEL SRI Research Fellow

Team:

UEL Master of Architecture students: Faith Omowunmi Ogundare, Busra Ciftci, Amy Gillespie, Hinal Arvindkumar Patel, Rova Taha, Dodangodagamage Kawan Roger Ranasinghe, Manoj Sai Ganji, Mohan Ukabhai Dungrani, Anca-Madalina Borda, Alina Klimenteva

Collaborators:

Paris Nikitidis - XR Developer, Grimshaw, Philip Singer - Computational Design Specialist, Grimshaw, Georgios Tsakiridis - Consultant, Grimshaw, Paolo Vimercati - Consultant, Grimshaw, John Kerr - Vice President, Research & Technology, Tate & Lyle Sugars, Paul Nichols - UEL FabLab, Nicolo Bencini - Senior Structural Engineer, AKT II, Sky Henley - Computational Design Specialist

Special thanks:

Hidayati Yazmin Binti Abdul Halim, Mert Manas Erten, Mihriban Ustun, Oluchukwu Judith Obiejesi, Svetoslav Georgiev Slav, Orseer Isreal Gbashah, Mahmoud Sayed Abdellattif, Rashmi Madagamage Gunathilaka