Small Site Architecture & Zero Carbon House Builds In London
An example of a more contextual 3-bed family home on Antill Road in Tottenham
It is widely understood that we are living through a period of climate emergency.
Pinchin Architects have been appointed by the London Borough of Haringey to collaborate on an ambitious programme to deliver 1,000 homes for council rents by 2022. We are proud to be working with a group of specialist consultants and key stakeholders to help them realise these bold targets across 9 sites, ranging in scale from single houses in the Noel Park Conservation area to a 9-storey multi-unit tower in Wood Green.
The Haringey Housing Project
Given the densely populated nature of Haringey, many of the sites are on back-land and infill sites, including old garages, empty retail units and unusual spaces left over from previous estate planning. We’re working to develop architectural designs that not only maximise the available space across these challenging sites, but that also contribute positively to the wider street-scene and public realm - whilst maintaining our commitment to environmentally friendly architecture.
In our efforts to achieve a positive environmental contribution for affordable housing developments, all new homes are aiming for a minimum of a 50% reduction in carbon usage compared to normal building control levels. We’re using sustainable technologies, such as air-source heat pumps, mechanical heat recovery ventilation and high- performance thermal envelopes, to achieve this goal.
Zero Carbon Housing In London
Haringey Council is committed to delivering zero carbon housing, so are working closely with architects, energy consultants and key stakeholders with similar values, ensuring their developments meet their targets. Haringey’s housing programme and its energy targets follow the government’s ambition to decarbonise and to bring its greenhouse gas emissions down to net zero by 2050 - a goal Pinchin Architects’ zero carbon commitment fully aligns with.
The government’s goal will have far-reaching implications for the social housing sector, and will prove challenging for all parts of the process. When aiming for this goal, housing providers have three opportunities to implement this shift towards carbon neutral home building: at the design stage, at the construction stage and at the end- user stage.
New 3-bedroom house in Tottenham for London Borough of Haringey
Small Site Challenges
Currently, the Haringey project is in the design phase. Some projects have recently received planning permissions, while others are still on the drawing board. One challenge facing small site design projects is the footprint of the build: we need to ensure thicker external walls can incorporate the right amount of external wall insulation, whilst still resulting in accommodation that delivers value for money and efficiency of land use.
The existing use of the land also provides both inspiration and constraints, as new properties sit immediately adjacent to existing buildings. Material choices are key in this context, to ensure the new homes do not disrupt the flow of existing architectural elements on the site. On smaller sites, the predominance of the existing buildings is the primary canvas from which to begin visual investigations, as opposed to large multi- block sites where the new buildings and spaces provide a new cohesive language and create their own context within the site’s boundaries.
Respecting The Architectural Context
Because of these contextual challenges, designing effective architecture for smaller sites, particularly with zero carbon builds in mind, requires a high level of analysis in terms of primary elements (like building massing, roof forms, porch design, external space design) and secondary elements (like style, window positions and fenestration, brickwork detailing). With this in-depth analysis also comes questions about how the new proposals will either complement, or perhaps contrast, the existing space.
For the Noel Park conservation area, our designs are modern, but we have been very careful to respect and integrate the primary characteristics of the surrounding street- scene, so that key items flow through from the existing homes. We have used eaves lines, footprint positions, roof forms and window proportions to create a set of rules and guides that underpin our proposals. The designs will be contextually comfortable in the street, such as the image below.
A terrace of 4-bedroom houses on St Margaret’s Avenue for London Borough of Haringey
Deviating From The Context
However, the contextual approach is not always the only way to proceed. Sometimes, the existing context is not conducive to supporting a new development that both flows with the context and is an effective, value for money home. In these cases, we depart from the primary and secondary characteristics of the surrounding developments and produce a standalone piece within a street-scene to deliver a proposal congruous in terms of its own composition.
In one project on Winchelsea Road in Tottenham, this was the case. We have produced a three-bedroom end-of-terrace property on an old unused car parking area that had a history of fly-tipping and being the scene of anti-social behaviours.
In this case, following the existing terrace lines was not possible, due to an unusual site footprint, and so we had to make the scheme work as part of a standalone design. We worked the roof form into the overall massing of the building below, resulting in an unusual geometry. To unify this composition, we have proposed external elevations and roof coverings using pre-patinated zinc shingles that give a high-quality external skin and an attractive texture.
Affordable Housing With A Positive Impact
With all schemes for housing associations and local authorities, our architectural practice seeks a balance between the amount of accommodation achieved, renewable energy objectives and positive environmental contributions, and a positive architectural dialogue within the existing street-scene. These factors must be carefully balanced to ensure maximum value is delivered with minimal interruption, which is why we take extra care to work particularly closely with clients, energy assessors and other key specialists to keep the architectural design looking good and working effectively.
We look forward to taking the schemes for the Haringey project through into the technical design and construction phases, and working closely with Haringey to deliver on their ambitious zero carbon housing targets.
If you are looking for architectural design that results in high-quality, value-maximising affordable housing, we’d love to talk to you. We’ve worked with a number of housing associations and local authorities to achieve maximum housing value, so please do get in touch to discuss your project with our experts.