Housing Development

Gillian Street, Greenwich SE12

CONTEXT

The development of this terrace of Housing Association houses is comprised of two bedroom, three bedroom and single bedroom houses.

ABOUT

The developer client approached me to design a block of flats for a Housing Association and whilst we discussed the brief it became apparent that the adjacent site was also being developed for a separate Housing Association. I initiated a partnership between the two Housing Associations, in order for there to be a single terraced development.

This partnership facilitated a release of land as a consequence of shared spaces and functions, and allowed for a more generous development- with increased garden space, more parking spaces and shared bike storage with bin stores. As a socialising factor there was also the benefit of a shared pavement and front areas so that neighbours could interact outside, in front of their homes. Also the benefit of the parking at the front of the terrace allowed residents to be able to keep an eye on their cars and neighbours’ cars.

Both Housing Associations were very happy with the result, particularly the managers of the mental care homes who recognised the benefit, psychologically, of a terrace for their clients. These residents and all the residents sharing the terrace and pavement at Gillian Street, benefitted in many ways from the social interaction of being next door to others. According to the managers, the whole terrace had gained a sense of becoming a small community. The isolation of the initially proposed two blocks of separated flats, which would have lacked any gardens and would have needed to have parking, access, and bin/bike storage far away- would never have offered such social integration.