DMA

We are pleased to announce that we have got planning approval for a proposal that provides 23 new homes for social rent by Westminster City Council. One of a series of infill sites that we have been working on, the scheme is 100% affordable housing and was very well received by the planning committee for the way it integrates much-needed social housing into the Queen’s Park Estate.

Two linear blocks of housing fit comfortably onto what had been car parking and redundant storage on the existing estate. The new blocks are a modern interpretation of the existing estate buildings, taking their scale and design cues from the adjacent Queen’s Park Conservation Area. These include brick details and patterns, as well as moves such as rotating the end-of-terrace houses to avoid presenting a blank gable facade at the edge of the street block, referencing the Victorian cottages of the Conservation Area.

New, pedestrianised, landscaped areas have been created in the spaces be­tween the buildings for the use of existing estate residents as well as new, with a careful delineation of private amenity space for residents on the ground floor. The design process involved extensive stakeholder engagement and David Miller Architects were responsible for assembling and leading the multi-disciplinary team.

These highly sustainable homes do a great deal more than helping to provide affordable housing – they also make what is already there better and improve the experience for everyone living on the estate, a need that has come into even sharper focus over the last few months.

For more information on the project, click here.