Londonewcastle has been creating developments in the capital for the design-conscious for the past three decades. Executing design-led, mixed-use developments of the highest quality; delivering the highest levels of service from origination to aftercare. Homes are more than just apartments and penthouses; they are a determined lifestyle choice.
Since early 2005, Studio Egret West has delivered high quality places through the combination of memorable architecture, strategic urban design and ecology-driven landscape. The 50-strong team work together in a collaborative studio environment, and are working on significant place-making projects throughout the UK.
Ab Rogers set up his eponymous design studio in 2004, combining a detail and material-orientated product design approach to larger interior and architectural spaces. Bold colour, simple forms and a commitment to space, light and innovative materials are a fundamental component of the studio’s many residential, retail and exhibition projects around the world.
Brody Associates is a London-based design agency specializing in Identity, Typography and Creative Direction across all platforms. Founded by seminal creative director, designer, typographer, and brand strategist Neville Brody in 2014, a spirit of exploration and pursuit of excellence informs the agency’s approach. Brody Associates have overseen the art direction, identity, typography and signage for the project, drawing on Erno Goldfinger’s rich personal archive to create a graphic treatment that reflects the building’s original modernist ideals.
Awarded an OBE in 2017, the London and Suffolk based multidisciplinary artist, Ryan Gander, is a key component to the refurbishment of Balfron Tower. Ryan brings his inquisitive approach to the building’s associations and memories, by designing bespoke pieces which join the dots between the past and the present.
The lifts are re-clad in polished concrete, stainless steel and birch plywood, opening up into refurbished lobbies with a bold graphic identity based on the building’s original signage and period colours. The ceramic tiles, paint finishes and rubber flooring will all be co-ordinated to match the nine access galleries that are evenly spaced throughout the building’s 27 floors, each with a distinctive unifying colour for tiles and doorways.
From the new cookery room and interconnecting dining room for residents to hold private functions, to the library and workshop, these facilities make the most of these compact spaces set within the fabric of the original concrete service tower. ‘We didn’t need laundries, for example, but we do need gyms and dining rooms’ says Ab Rogers, explaining that these are the best way of using the array of 25 square metre rooms in the service tower.
From the new cookery room and interconnecting dining room for residents to hold private functions, to the library and workshop, these facilities make the most of these compact spaces set within the fabric of the original concrete service tower. ‘We didn’t need laundries, for example, but we do need gyms and dining rooms’ says Ab Rogers, explaining that these are the best way of using the array of 25 square metre rooms in the service tower.
These new spaces also incorporate improvements in insulation, glazing, servicing and environmental performance. A gymnasium and yoga room will be joined by a music room, cinema and table tennis room/gallery space. while the building will be crowned by a rooftop garden; a refined and secluded al fresco space for residents’ events and dining, enlivened with planting and contemporary furniture.
ARD and SEW have drawn up elegant schemes for the various layout typologies created from the refurbished apartments. The new flats have been sensitively reconfigured for open-plan living, allowing more natural light into the flats as well as improving accessibility. By bringing the kitchen into the main living area, separated by the counter and high-level units, the feeling of space is maximised throughout the apartment, often allowing views right from the front door to the city skyline beyond.
ARD and SEW have drawn up elegant schemes for the various layout typologies created from the refurbished apartments. The new flats have been sensitively reconfigured for open-plan living, allowing more natural light into the flats as well as improving accessibility. By bringing the kitchen into the main living area, separated by the counter and high-level units, the feeling of space is maximised throughout the apartment, often allowing views right from the front door to the city skyline beyond.
Type A one bedroom apartments have a sliding door providing access from the bedroom into the living space, where a breakfast-bar style kitchen is adjacent to the living area. Type B apartments feature two bedrooms, and are reached either via stairs leading up or down from the access corridor, with a small balcony opening off the main living space. The corner Type C & Type D apartments have dual aspect views, with the latter incorporating an en suite master bedroom, while apartment Types E & F are generous 3 or 4 bedroom maisonettes located on either the ground and first or 14th and 15th floors.
Wherever possible, materials have been sourced to match those specified by Goldfinger, while still retaining contemporary standards of efficiency, function and purpose.
Stratford is now a booming destination for art, retail, sports and events, with the stunning architecture and landscaping of the Olympic Park woven into the local area and enhanced with new apartments, as well as the proposed Olympicopolis cultural quarter. To the south, Canary Wharf continues to expand, with Norman Foster’s Crossrail Place opening in advance of the new station that will sit alongside it in the North Dock. In addition new residential quarters, retail spaces and restaurants are planned, especially to the east where 3.6 hectares of new public space and retail will be created on the former Wood Wharf site.
Stratford is now a booming destination for art, retail, sports and events, with the stunning architecture and landscaping of the Olympic Park woven into the local area and enhanced with new apartments, as well as the proposed Olympicopolis cultural quarter. To the south, Canary Wharf continues to expand, with Norman Foster’s Crossrail Place opening in advance of the new station that will sit alongside it in the North Dock. In addition new residential quarters, retail spaces and restaurants are planned, especially to the east where 3.6 hectares of new public space and retail will be created on the former Wood Wharf site.
For 150 years, Poplar and the surrounding area thrived on its proximity to the great docks, warehouses and wharves. Their strategic value also made the area a natural target during the Blitz, killing hundreds and destroying countless homes and business. Post-war reconstruction focused on new housing and the area was hugely boosted by its role in the Exhibition of Live Architecture, which accompanied the 1951 Festival of Britain.
As well as improvements in the day-to-day running of the market, the proposed construction include the approved regeneration plans of 650 new homes, including affordable family housing at a variety of scales with new rooftop spaces and amenity areas. The enduring character of Chrisp Street Market will be preserved and enhanced, together with the creation of a new multi-screen cinema and food and drink concessions, alongside provisions for independent and established retail. This improved public realm will create a new destination within the shadow of Balfron Tower.
There are also several other regeneration projects near Balfron including Aberfeldy Village, Blackwall Reach and Republic. The latter bringing 650,000sqft of mixed use development including a gym, office space and retail.
Ernö Goldfinger was approached by the London County Council to draw up the scheme, having become known for his exploration of ideal high-rise plans for London during the war. These in turn had been inspired by his studies in Paris and the work of Le Corbusier and Auguste Perret.
Ernö Goldfinger was approached by the London County Council to draw up the scheme, having become known for his exploration of ideal high-rise plans for London during the war. These in turn had been inspired by his studies in Paris and the work of Le Corbusier and Auguste Perret.
Balfron Tower was a typically utopian construction on a site originally occupied by low-rise terraces. From the outset, Goldfinger was careful to emphasise the importance of ‘community life.’ Together with his wife Ursula, the couple had a well-publicised stay in the Tower after construction, living high up in apartment 130 for eight weeks and conducting what we would now call ‘focus groups’. The Tower became a significant local landmark, standing alongside the new A102 dual carriageway and approach road to the new southbound Blackwall Tunnel, which opened in 1967 at the height of the automobile’s dominance of planning in London.
Other major estates of the era include Chamberlin, Powell and Bon’s Churchill Gardens in Pimlico and Golden Lane in the City, a precursor to their designs for the adjacent Barbican. The latter is one of the best-known examples of the era’s Brutalist architecture, characterised by the bold deployment of unfinished concrete on both interior and exterior surfaces, often incorporating structural elements as the primary architectural forms. Brutalism has its origins in the French term for raw concrete, ‘béton brut’, but the name caught on in the UK because this architectural approach had a shocking, literally brutal impact on the urban realm. Brutalist designs were about banishing old hierarchies, freeing up space and light and making the most of a more visceral connection between architecture and inhabitant, building and city.
Other major estates of the era include Chamberlin, Powell and Bon’s Churchill Gardens in Pimlico and Golden Lane in the City, a precursor to their designs for the adjacent Barbican. The latter is one of the best-known examples of the era’s Brutalist architecture, characterised by the bold deployment of unfinished concrete on both interior and exterior surfaces, often incorporating structural elements as the primary architectural forms. Brutalism has its origins in the French term for raw concrete, ‘béton brut’, but the name caught on in the UK because this architectural approach had a shocking, literally brutal impact on the urban realm. Brutalist designs were about banishing old hierarchies, freeing up space and light and making the most of a more visceral connection between architecture and inhabitant, building and city.
It has taken a new generation of design aficionados to recognise the innate charm and generosity of Brutalist design. Today, London’s clutch of world-class Brutalist buildings are regularly lauded as icons of the genre. The refurbished Balfron Tower will be a proud addition to the collection, a high-rise symbol of architectural innovation and design ingenuity, wrapped up in a bold sculptural shell.
Balfron Shop, 76 St. Leonards St, Poplar E14 0QU
Nearest tube - Langdon Park (5 minutes walk)
Weds-Fri 10am-6pm
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