South Kilburn Masterplan London, Building Renewal Design News, Architecture Image

South Kilburn Masterplan

London Regeneration Development, UK design by Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands + ABA, Architects

22 Jun 2012

Planning approval for Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands and Alison Brooks Architects in South Kilburn

Design: Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands and ABA, Architects

Bronte & Fielding House_Internal courtyard view of LDS’s west terrace (right) and ABA’s south (centre) and east blocks (left):

render © Visualhouse

South Kilburn Masterplan News

The new phase of Brent Council’s ambitious South Kilburn regeneration programme, designed by Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands and Alison Brooks Architects (ABA), was approved at the Council’s planning committee meeting last night and will now be referred to the Mayor of London for approval.

The Phase 2a development will create a new residential quarter of mansion blocks, framing private communal gardens in the spirit of neighbouring Maida Vale. The scheme will provide 229 new mixed-tenure dwellings, replacing the existing Bronte House and Fielding House towers, and will re-establish Kilburn Park Road as one of the Borough’s grandest tree-lined avenues. With a considerable proportion of affordable housing, the scheme also demonstrates the Council’s commitment to regeneration and growth at a time when this type of housing is in short supply.

Bronte & Fielding House_View of LDS’s west terrace on Cambridge Road:

render © Visualhouse

The project is the second collaboration for the architects within the South Kilburn regeneration programme. ABA’s Ely Court and Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands’ award-winning Cambridge and Wells Court within Phase 1b of the programme have recently started on site.

The team’s site masterplan reinstates the historic Victorian street pattern of South Kilburn with dynamic, outward facing street frontages and frequent ground level entrances. The new six and seven-storey buildings are animated with bay windows, balconies, dormers and sloping roofs. These elements reinterpret the mansion block typology and introduce a domestic scale to Kilburn Park and Cambridge Roads, in contrast to the monolithic towers that currently occupy the site.

The masterplan is designed to re-establish the pedestrian route between Kilburn Park Road and Stafford Road, with a new boulevard and civic square at Kilburn Park Road strengthening the neighbourhood’s connections to the wider community.

Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands has designed the terrace along the western edge of the site and a smaller block to the north. Both buildings typify the practice’s ethos of using historic precedents to inform a highly modern response. ABA’s design for the east terrace forms an urbane new residential frontage for Kilburn Park Road, while its design for the south ‘gateway’ building responds to the complex junction at the south of the site.

Bronte & Fielding House_View of ABA’s east terrace on Kilburn Park Road:

render © Visualhouse

Paul Sandilands, Director at Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands, commented: “With planning permission secured, we hope the scheme will become a benchmark for the Borough in terms of design quality and its focus on establishing a real community. We have worked closely with Brent Council to fulfil the aims of its admirable regeneration programme and create a neighbourhood that provides high-quality, mixed tenure housing to a part of London where it is greatly needed.”

Alison Brooks said: “We are really pleased that we are continuing to help Brent transform South Kilburn from an isolated Estate into a familiar and desirable residential neighbourhood. Our team’s scheme is as much about re-creating great streets as providing great family homes. Brent has provided a rare opportunity for our team to provide grand residential architecture, a spectacular communal garden, treed boulevards and a new public square. We hope this scheme will set a new standard for housing as sustainable, integrated urban design.”

Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands’ design for the west residential terrace reinterprets the strong vertical elements of the mansion blocks of nearby Elgin Avenue through subtle geometries, creating a striking elevation along Cambridge Road. Four distinct vertical structures are expressed through prominent entrance bays, which are mirrored in the rear elevation, where cantilevered balconies animate the façade and provide amenity space overlooking the generous courtyard. The mansard roof is also given a contemporary treatment, with a four storey pitch and use of roof tiles to ‘cloak’ the buildings. Green glazed brick reveals and double-height anodised aluminium-framed lantern windows add depth and create visually dynamic façades.

The design of the smaller north block responds to its orientation at the edge of the site, maximising light and providing closure to the communal gardens. Here Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands has given the building a more fluid design, while continuing the language introduced in the west terrace through the use of triple-height lantern windows. Entrances are positioned to provide legible routes from the main surrounding streets and public walkway, which runs along the building’s courtyard-facing rear elevation.

ABA’s design for the east terrace is set 12m back from the street to offer a 120m long, 7m deep landscaped forecourt and double row of street trees to soften this major Kilburn thoroughfare. The new building is characterised by a series of two storey high ‘window boxes’ that delineate grand communal entrances and sheltered upper storey balconies. The entrances will provide clear views through to the communal gardens. The upper floors of the building slope back to form an extended mansard roof, punctuated with incised and projecting dormers, with two storey elements that reflect the exuberant rooflines of nearby Maida Vale.

The south ‘gateway’ building employs a distinct leaf-shaped geometric plan, responding to the junction between Cambridge Road, Stuart Road and Kilburn Park Road. The faceted plan creates landscaped ‘niches’ at ground level and on upper floors generates 100% double aspect flats with 270 degree views.

Demolition of Bronte House and Fielding House towers is due to start at the end of 2013.

South Kilburn Buildings – Building Information

Architect & Lead Consultant: Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands
Architect: Alison Brooks Architects
Client: Brent Council
Structural Engineer: WSP UK
Services Engineer: Norman Disney & Young
Cost Consultant & CDM Coordinator: Cyrill Sweett
Environmental Consultant: PRP Architects
Transport Consultant: Motion Transport Planning
Landscape Architect: Churchman Landscape Architects

South Kilburn Masterplan images / information from Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands

24 Mar 2011

South Kilburn Masterplan Planning Permission

Permission granted for Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands’ and Alison Brooks Architects plans for second stage of Kilburn Masterplan

Plans submitted by Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands and Alison Brooks Architects (ABA) for the second stage of Brent Council’s South Kilburn Masterplan were unanimously approved at a meeting of the council’s planning committee last week. The developments span a 2.09 hectare site in the London suburb of South Kilburn, replacing three existing isolated estates with 144 new dwellings.

Designs by Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands:
Alpha Mews ; Cambridge Avenue

renders © Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands

Situated at the gateway to the historic quarter identified in the overarching Masterplan For the Regeneration of South Kilburn, the scheme will reinstate the urban form and street pattern which characterised the area before post-war development – a traditional model of villas fronting the main road with corresponding mews houses to the rear, and a restored nineteenth century route, Alpha Mews. Running the length of the scheme and linking the new developments, the ‘spine’ route is made up of shared surfaces, play areas, gardens and defined public and private spaces overlooked by balconies and roof gardens.

A continuous frontage along Cambridge Avenue adjacent to Kilburn Park Station repairs the historic street pattern, while the modern brick facades of the Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands’ scheme reflect the formality of the Victorian villas opposite – the consistency in height and detail punctuated by taller recessed linking elements which act as vertical markers along the street. The apartments themselves deliver high-quality living space with generously spaced, dual-aspect units. The varying height of the buildings to the rear is typical of mews across London, while articulated entrances, recessed windows and roof gardens add interest and depth to the façades.

Designs by ABA:
Chichester Road Terrace x 2 ; Mews homezone

renders © Alison Brooks Architects

ABA’s scheme is a collection of three building typologies of up to four storeys: apartment terrace, flatiron building and mews houses knitted between existing eleven storey apartment blocks. Street frontages are animated with front porches, recessed balconies and roof gardens create a layering of landscape and highly articulated, rhythmic facades. A mews street of two and three bed houses introduces a finer grain of development within the scheme. Integral to ABA’s scheme is the definition and reinforcement of the existing estate’s green spaces as communal gardens and protected play areas.

Paul Sandilands of Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands said “In reinstating the traditional streetscape of the historic quarter it is possible to re-create coherent urban architecture that will integrate with the grain of its surrounds.”

Alison Brooks said: “The scheme aims to re-instill the scale and texture of London streets with updated mansion block and mews house typologies, private gardens and generous space standards – supporting the principle of adaptable homes.”

The approach to urban form stitches the new development into the old – providing connections to the wider neighbourhood in the form of new pedestrian routes and appropriate architecture in high-quality materials.

The team of Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands and Alison Brooks Architects won the project in a two-stage design competition last year. It forms the second stage in the overall master plan, which will remain ongoing until 2025.

Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands
Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands is an award-winning firm of architects and urban designers, responsible for extensive and long-standing work on the regeneration of London’s South Bank, and for London landmarks such as the Hungerford Footbridge, Royal Victoria Dock Bridge and Oxo Tower Wharf. The practice is currently developing a new sustainable suburb for Berkeley Homes in Kidbrooke and is part of Team POPULOUS, the team delivering overlay facilities for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Alison Brooks Architects
Alison Brooks is recognised for delivering design excellence and innovation in projects ranging from urban regeneration, public buildings for the arts, higher education and housing. ABA is the first UK practice to have won the Stirling Prize (jointly), the Manser Medal and Stephen Lawrence Prize and in 2010 delivered the landmark Quarterhouse Performing Arts Centre. ABA has received numerous Housing Design Awards and recently, Building for Life Gold Standard for Newhall Be.

South Kilburn Masterplan images / information from Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands

South Kilburn Masterplan architect : Lifschutz Davidson

Location: South Kilburn, London, England, UK