bloomfield road se18
bloomfield road se18

"The architecture .. is exemplary... especially the delightful quality of the environment ... The layout and quality of spaces, colour and skilful integration of internal and external spaces provide a spiritually uplifting place ... The new buildings are crisp and modern with an elegant arrangement of punctured openings, … the scale is intimate with considerable variation in height and form. .. The new building has been integrated with the retained elements .. These add visual interest" RIBA Award

This scheme is on the landlocked site of a former munitions factory. The existing boundary walls, some internal walls, and a steel transporter frame are retained and transformed to enhance the scheme's environment, while the new buildings are disposed close to the site entrance, creating a sequence of distinctive courts and gardens. The elements of old and new are woven together hand in glove.

The buildings take the form of a terrace of six 'alms' houses, with private gardens, and a linked 'L' shaped mental health community care hostel. This has ten client bedrooms, ancillary facilities and 24 hour staff accommodation. On the top floor of the three storey tower there is room for visitors and therapeutic activity, which gives long views out of the site and down the hill towards the Thames.

The scheme is visually anchored around the tower which clearly demarks the entrance. New works are finished in render in contrast to the vestigial brickwork enclosures. A sequence of intimate spaces is linked by long vistas from the entrance court to the internal areas of the site. A romantic mix of ruined remnants of the former industrial site with new gardens and planting creates the new landscape.

" ..this was a scheme of a very high quality, whose simple forms, clear planning, carefully judged window openings combined to produce a calm, healing environment within a difficult landlocked site, displaying exemplary sensitivity to its impact on the surrounding housing. They particularly admired the way the remains of the original building had been treated with respect, as part of an established landscape to be enhanced and extended, rather than thoughtlessly obliterated" Housing Design Project Award

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