A building that blends in with the history of the place

Cartwright Gardens

Location: London, United Kingdom
Client: University Partnership Programme Ltd

Programme: Student housing complex with main façade within a conservation area

The Garden Halls, one of the student homes of the University of London, make up one complete length of Cartwright Gardens, one of the typical green squares of the times of George V. MaccreanorLavington together with TP Bennett were commissioned  to design a new student accommodation to replace existing student homes from the 1930s and 50s, and to maximize the floorspace on the site. The ensemble contains 1.200 units as a mix of student hotel and micro apartments.

The site, surrounded by numerous listed buildings and located within a conservation area, had to fulfill high design aspirations. The project was developed in consultation with key conservation stakeholders and carefully integrated with its context. The design references the scale of the neighbouring buildings. The expressively profiled façade is built as richly detailed, yet prefabricated brick construction. The building not only complies to high design standards, but also meets the Mayor of London’s ambitious sustainability standards and reaches BREAM ‘Excellent’ rating.

Stages:
2014 Facade design, all stages
2015 – Construction

Team:
MaccreanorLavington:MLA+
Architect main building: TP Bennett
Planning and development consultant: CBRE
Conservation: Peter Stewart
Landscape: Macfarlane Wilder
Structure: Cundalls
Services, Transport: Cundalls
Sustainability: Mecserve
Quantity surveyor, construction management: McBains Cooper
Noise: SRL
Public participation: Lodestone
Archeology: Brigantia
Fire: Tenos