Plashet Road
Number/street name:
Plashet Road
Address line 2:
Plaistow
City:
London
Postcode:
E13 0QB
Architect:
Stephen Taylor Architects
Architect contact number:
2077291672
Developer:
LB Newham.
Planning Authority:
London Borough of Newham
Planning Reference:
18/03413/FUL
Date of Completion:
11/2024
Schedule of Accommodation:
19 x 1 bed flats; 16 x 2 bed flats; 20 x 3 bed flats
Tenure Mix:
49% social rent, 51% affordable home ownership
Total number of homes:
Site size (hectares):
0.33
Net Density (homes per hectare):
167
Size of principal unit (sq m):
121
Smallest Unit (sq m):
50
Largest unit (sq m):
121
No of parking spaces:
21
Scheme PDF Download
Planning History
The site does not form part of a conservation area, and was previously occupied by nineteenth-century school buildings, which had been re-purposed as a community centre. Prior approval for the demolition of these buildings was granted prior to STA’s involvement with the project. Support for the application was dependent upon the re-provision of a community centre on the site. Stephen Taylor Architects led a comprehensive pre-application consultation process with the local authority planning department, including very well received presentations to the Design Review Panel and Members Forum. Full planning permission was granted in December 2018.
The Design Process
Plashet Road is a mixed-use development delivered for Newham Council. It is located on the site of a former Victorian school building and provides a 900 square metre community centre, a 350 square metre children’s nursery and 55 affordable homes.
The site is unique in being bounded on all sides by high quality mature trees, which contribute positively to the character of the wider area and have all been retained as part of the development. The project builds on the qualities of the site, with the building arranged in response to the trees, creating a series of crescent façades facing the street.
A communal courtyard garden surrounded on all sides by a colonnaded gallery access deck defines the building’s interior and provides access to the apartments. The proposals have been laid out to deliver 100% dual aspect apartments, with a facade design of generous openings that bring good levels of natural light and ventilation into the interiors of all homes.
Each unit benefits from either a roof terrace amenity space or loggia balcony. This ensures that the amenity space is easily connected to the internal living areas and feels like a room in itself.
A material language shared with the terraced houses adjacent to the site, give the building familiarity with its surroundings and give the building a sense of permanence, similar to the robust Victorian public buildings of the area.
Key Features
Retention of the existing mature trees around the perimeter of the site was a fundamental part of the brief. A rigorous feasibility study demonstrated that the greatest quantum of development was achieved by organising the building around a central courtyard. The distinctive scalloped plan form allowed the building to push out towards the edge of the site whilst negotiating the tree root protection zones. For reasons of economy, the radius of each scallop is sufficient to allow the external wall of the building to be constructed from standard orthogonal components (bricks, lintels, cills, windows, etc.) both internally and externally.
