Residential Towers in London
- Sabine Drey
Brick facades in red and grey hues provide the two residential towers with a solid appearance. Local residents desired hands-on architecture instead of high-gloss facades in their quarter. The towers are elements of a long-term urban development scheme for the revitalisation of Colville Estate in Hoxton, East London. Karakusevic Architects developed a master plan that envisioned replacing the 438 existing apartments of the run-down council housing estate built in the 1950s and creating 925 new residential units in total. Different to other, comparable projects the residents received the opportunity to remain in locally affordable housing units. They were also invited to participate in the planning. The architects were able to convince them to integrate the two towers with their expensive private sale flats into the master plan. This also facilitated the financing of affordable units. At the same time the two buildings ensured a high degree of density without residents having to experience a lack of green spaces. The open ground floor of one of the towers features a publicly accessible café and outdoor recreational areas and as a result makes the towers accessible to the residents of the entire area.
