Brockley Rise, London
Residential extension and infill development on corner plot in Brockley, South East London.
Although the existing shop unit has been in use by the current tenant as a carpet shop for some years, the building itself is run-down and under utilised. The rear extensions and workshop buildings have been used in an ad-hoc way which has resulted an unconsidered collection of additions and adaptations. The rear service yard is badly surfaced, and contains an unsightly collection of unorganised refuse bins. The proposals presented in the planning application attempt to make a more productive use of this site by introducing more residential accommodation, whilst retaining the ground floor use on Brockley Rise as a retail unit.
The proposed new extension and infill is an attempt to rationalise the built form of this corner site to provide a visual link between the height and prominence of the east facing three-storey Victorian building facing the main road, and the two-storey housing to the west on Gabriel Street: the new accommodation steps down gradually to meet the height of the neighbouring buildings.
The new accommodation will be contemporary in design, but contextual. Brickwork will be decorative in relief in strategic places creating visual interest. High quality bespoke windows will create a mixture of shallow, and deep reveals. Areas of bronze coloured metal cladding on the windows and adjacent to entrances add further interest to the facade.
(Planning Application, October 2015)
