12 May 2022 By Fran Williams. Photography by Ben Blossom

The practice has completed a residential-led 1,385m² mixed-use development on Greenwich High Road in south-east London for client Tailored Living Solutions

The client's brief called for improvement to a previously consented scheme for the brownfield site – a vacant plot following the demolition of the Miller Pub in 2014. The new building is a six-storey development comprising five residential storeys of 14 units (ten two-beds and four one-beds) above a commercial ground floor. Street level is home to an independent bakery facing on to Ashburnham Triangle Conservation Area.

The site is adjacent to a Thames Water sewage pumping station, which includes Grade II-listed Greenwich Pumping Station, 50m from the northern site boundary.

The building acts as a bookend to the terraced office buildings to the west of the site along Greenwich High Road, mirroring the height of the six-storey buildings on the other side of the pumping station, helping frame it.

Constructed of a concrete frame and masonry walls, the new building is detailed with white concrete soffits and white metal balustrades. The layered street-facing elevation is defined by a grid of columns and slabs forming inset balconies, creating a threshold between the apartments and the street, and forming a framework of horizontal and vertical elements.

According to the architect, the layered grid sets the rhythm of the building and provides a means to support balconies and windows while the ‘solid’ line of the building aligns with the building line on the street.

Each dwelling has a balcony space accessed from floor-to-ceiling windows directly from the living room space. The homes are entered via a dedicated residential entrance on Greenwich High Road, highlighted by a recessed solid door.

The practice’s plans were approved by Greenwich Council in 2019.

The site was a vacant plot following demolition of a public house in 2014 by previous owners. It faces on to Ashburnham Triangle Conservation Area and is adjacent to a Thames Water sewage pumping station, which includes Grade II-listed Greenwich Pumping Station 50m from the northern site boundary.

The development acts as a bookend to the terrace buildings to the west of the site along Greenwich High Road and mirrors the height of the six-storey buildings on the other side of the pumping station, helping to frame the listed building.

The new building – which has a concrete frame and masonry walls – is detailed with face-finished white concrete soffits and white metal balustrades. The street elevation is defined by a grid of columns and slabs forming inset balconies, which creates a threshold between the apartments and the street. This affords the elevation a carefully proportioned rhythm which aligns with the surrounding Victorian and Georgian context, at a scale corresponding with forthcoming developments in the area.

The 14 residential units (ten two-bedroom and four one-bed homes) are all dual-aspect and naturally ventilated, with living spaces benefiting from a southerly aspect towards Greenwich, and bedrooms looking north towards the River Thames. Each home has generous, and in most cases full-width, balcony space accessed via floor-to-ceiling windows directly from the living space, which gives long views and daylight into the homes. The deep south-facing balconies provide the homes with a visual break from the busy street and provide solar shading in the summer.

The homes are accessed via a dedicated residential entrance on Greenwich High Road, differentiated by a quiet recessed entrance and solid door, clearly for private use. Services are concealed in a communal ground-floor space dedicated to refuse and recycling. Sustainable transport is encouraged by the provision of easily accessible, ground-floor, covered bike storage. Photovoltaic panels on the roof provide renewable energy.

This is the second project we have designed for Southwark developer Tailored Living Solutions (TLS). For us the project has been an exercise in refining an existing consented scheme to bring added value. It’s a process which has informed the practice’s ongoing working relationship with TLS, ensuring that added value can be embedded in the very early stages of concept design for future projects. Tom Lewith, director, TDO

Start on site March 2019 Completion date Mid 2021 (main works), January 2022 (commercial tenant occupation) Gross internal floor area 1,385m² Form of contract or procurement route Design and build Construction cost Undisclosed Architect TDO Delivery architect Hoc Studio Architects Client Tailored Living Solutions Structural engineer Bridges Pound M&E consultant Synergy Heritage consultant Heritage Collective Renewables consultant Williams Renewables Planning consultant BPTW Interior designer TG Studio Fire engineer GF Fire Safety Engineering Acoustic consultant REC Main contractor RI Design and Build CAD software used AutoCAD

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