Europan 8: Stonebridge, London

Winner: Stonebridge, London, UK

Team members:

• Chris Watson, architect
• Stephen Witherford, architect
• William Mann, architect
• Adam Ritchie, environmental consultant
• Carrie Weldon, quantity surveyor
• Step Haiselden, atructural engineer

Website

www.wwmarchitects.co.uk

About the project

The winning scheme for Stonebridge is a sophisticated urban project that responds well to desire lines and embraces the central park, creating careful relationships with existing routes and children’s spaces. The park, a main focus for the competition site, has been sensitively composed with a series of play structures at its centre. This is protected by a canopy of Scots pines, acting as both a shading device and demarcation of the site boundary. The other edges of the park are more urban, more sociable, with balconies and areas for groups being provided. The existing nursery is also given significance within the park; paved areas are created to the front of the building to form natural resting or waiting places.

Parking is concentrated on the south and west edges, keeping the northern platform clear as a pedestrian promenade. At the lower level a small building is built against the retaining wall, like an orangery against a garden wall, housing a small café and a launderette - a modest replacement for the communal facilities lost with the demolition of Stonebridge’s high-rise blocks.

The residential blocks are clearly planned, with generous bay windows and balconies. Both blocks are timber framed with a self-supporting brick external wall. The external wall is of pale (white/beige) brickwork and lime mortar.

Why it won

The jury felt that this scheme responded well to the brief on many different levels. However, it was felt that its main strength was the way it had carefully analysed the wider urban condition of Stonebridge. In prioritising public space, it proposes a sophisticated response to the park, sensitively creating a series of different external play spaces that link well with the existing nursery. The composition of the housing helps to reinforce these relationships, particularly at the southern site where the terrace is broken into two, orchestrating a route through to the park from Hillside.

In comparison to the complexity of the external space, the articulation of the housing blocks is more restrained. They are handled with a quiet confidence, creating special apartments with generous bay windows and balconies that take advantage of the setting.