Des Res @ NLA

Des Res Exhibition:


In the building centre off of Tottenham Court Road is the new exhibition by the NLA called Des Res, which looks at the pressures the capital is under going to cope with the construction of buildings to cope with an estimated population increase of over 700,000 in the next 15 years. The mayor's housing strategy proposes almost a quarter of a million new homes by 2016, which is represented in the model pictured below.

The exhibition relates to my extended essay I am currently doing on new developments in the Thames Gateway area of Kent Thameside.

The exhibition looks at areas including sustainability, affordability, design, the public realm, communities, mixed use developments and previous post-war housing examples. Like with all NLA exhibitions it comes with a great supporting booklet, lots of lovely new architect models and many large print outs of photographs, models, CGI and photoshop representations of the new developments.


Each development profile includes architect, client, project manager and landscape architect! It also includes a break down of the developments density, mix of units (per no. bedrooms), retail, commercial and residential percentages, amount of public space included and the percentage of homes in that are socially rented in each development. This makes it all very clear and easy to compare different developments across the capital and see which are the most effective.

Developments I particularly liked were the narrow Monmouth Road building designed by Pitman Tozer Architects and Landscaped by Nurture Nature, which has been nominated for the Grand Design building of the year award. I also like Donnybrook Quarter (pictured above) designed by Peter Barber Architects, which has a very Spanish or Greek feel about the style of the housing. Another development I particularly like for it's strong use of colour is St. Thomas' School (pictured below) and Flats in Kensington and Chelsea, designed by Pollard Thomas Edwards architects and the landscape architect is Jenkins and Clarke.

Focus Week- Go East

New East London Architecture:

Using the DLR, as a means of exploring East London I set off from Bank station along the DLR to West Silvertown Station. It is interesting to see how London's landscape changes from built up offices to baron wastelands, industrial estates and forgotten housing.

Peabody Trust Housing:


At West Silvertown is the Peabody Trust's building designed by Niall McLaughlin Architects. Built in 2004 it cost £1.5 million and the design was chosen as the winner of the trust's competition to find fresh ideas for low cost housing. The main structure is a regular timber frame structure but it is clad in decorative materials inspired by the iridescence of dragonflies, peacocks and films of oil. Iridescence is made by light reflecting off of different layers within a material. Working with artist Martin Richman a cladding was developed using ‘dichroic’ film. The cladding is made up of a sheet of glass and a sheet of aluminium with a layer of dichroic film in the middle and was constructed at a window manufacturers. When the quality of light changes so does the intensity of colour on the building's cladding, turning it into a striking building for the area.

Silvertown Explosion:

Walking along the North Woolwich Road I stumbled upon a small memorial and wondered what it was for. It turned out to be that on this site was the biggest explosion in London's history. In 1917 a TNT factory that was aiding the first world war efforts exploded killing 73 people and injuring 400. 50 tons of TNT exploded damaging some 70,000 homes as well as factories, other businesses and the local fire station. For such a major event the memorial is tiny and faded. Positioned under the DLR railway it is not very noticeable and hopefully shall be more focal when the existing site of the explosion is redeveloped for housing.


Thames Barrier Park:


I have never been here before. However, I did attempt to get to it once before but ended up visiting the south side of the Thames where there is nothing! Thames Barrier Park covers 22 acres on a site that was previously a dock. The centre piece to the park is the Green Dock, where there are contoured Yew and Maygreen hedges. The sunken environment creates it's own micro climate attracting butterflies and allowing different types of plants to grow within. Although it is only spring there are some species that are still out in leaf and in flower like the rows of Daffodils. This park has a similar feeling to the Forum in Barcelona except for the grotty windy weather in it's contemporary design and the Remembrance Pavilion that reminds me of the exposed warehouse on the Forum's waterfront.




Laban Dance College:


By Deptford Creek near Greenwich is the new Laban Dance College, home to Europe's largest school in contemporary dance. Sitting amongst derelict buildings and industrial land is this colourful shiny brand new structure designed by Herzog & de Meuron. The building is wrapped in semi translucent polycarbonate sheeting allowing for privacy, but also allowing the viewer outside to see glimpses of what activities happen within the building. When the sun comes out the shape of the building allows for light to refract and for reflections of surrounding buildings to happen on it's large windows. Like the Peabody Trust housing in Silvertown light plays with the colours of the polycarbonate allowing for varying intensities in colour and could possibly be used for other uses other than just cladding. The building overhangs a platform making it seem, as though the structure is floating on it's surrounding vivid landscape. Grass pyramids are created round the college using timber frames that hold back the soil allowing for turf to grow over it. This minimalist landscape contrasts with the college's 'brown roof'. A roof that mimics the qualities of brownfield sites it acts as a habitat for the Black Redstart, which is one of Britain's rarest birds.