Planning consent for the design of a new high quality residential scheme in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets has been secured by FBM Architects. The new development for Gateway Housing Association will provide 32 homes across the site located near Medway Conservation Area in Bow.
FBM Architects’ carefully thought out design complements the urban and historic setting, whilst providing homes for contemporary living.
The new scheme, its height defined by the strong parapet line, offers a continuous three-storey frontage along Norman Grove and Saxon Road, relating to the character of the Medway Conservation Area and the locally listed Saxon Lea Court. A generous space between the two buildings on the eastern part of the development ensures a soft transition in height from three to four storeys, and creating the entrance to the new apartments.
The building line is set back from the street, re-establishing a typical scale for the Victorian streets in the immediate neighbourhood, while successfully solving the issue of overlooking between the existing and proposed houses on Norman Grove. Ordered fenestration patterns with tall, generous window proportions further underpin the scheme’s connection with Victorian architectural legacy.
The inclusion of arched entrances to individual dwellings introduces an intimate, human-scale character that echoes this distinctive feature of the surrounding streets which contain arched openings to windows and front doors. Full height windows and doors further reinforce the connection between the external and internal spaces. A buff/brown coloured brickwork provides a contextual, robust appearance that unifies the scheme.
The ground floor apartments benefit from private terraces facing onto the central courtyard. The upper floor apartments have private amenity space in the form of deep balconies that act as an extension of the adjacent rooms.
The central courtyard provides landscaped open space and includes a playground while a wide green strip of front gardens on Norman Grove and Saxon Road ties Regency Court to its neighbouring context.
The scheme is fully car-free, given the excellent proximity to local transport links and supportive of local policy that encourages sustainable modes of transport. Dedicated cycle storage is provided within the courtyard that is accessible to all residents.
