London Housing.
London’s housing crisis stems from amongst other reasons, a shortage of a steady supply of residential dwellings to an ever-widening spectrum of demand. This shortage threatens London’s future as a global, urban and digitized supercity. Access to affordable homes is very important for the development of London’s urban fabric. The government has various initiatives underway to build affordable homes in the city to address this issue. The London housing strategy 2018 published by the Mayor’s office sets out the vision and framework to resolve the crisis by focusing on building high quality, inclusive and affordable houses and proposes £4.8bn in affordable housing investment through to 2022.
The Project.
The Government’s commitment has seen the introduction of regulations like Town and Country Planning (Brownfield Land Register) Regulations 2017 that introduce a statutory brownfield register and ensure that 90% of suitable brownfield sites have planning permission for housing by 2020. With a growing emphasis on the need to restock the housing market, there is a real opportunity to take a holistic approach to the implementation. Affordable housing using quality construction techniques is a good starting point however the real challenge is in designing buildings that serve both environmental and emotional needs. In order to achieve this, the proposed design, in addition to ecofriendly and sustainable design, applies urban farming techniques to produce organic food and connect to nature whilst bringing the communities closer
Concept Matrix.
SITE CONTEXT
The site is located, in the heart of London city with easy access to public transport. The nearest under ground station is Southwark. The site is currently in a demolished state and a mixed-use development is proposed.
AREAS'S HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE
West of the Tate Modern art gallery, by the railway lines running onto Blackfriars Bridge and filled a block between the Thames and Southwark Street. The present borough was formed in 1965 by the amalgamation of three former metropolitan boroughs, Bermondsey, Camberwell, and Southwark. Nearly all of Southwark belongs to the historic county of Surrey,
SITE PREVIOUS USAGE
The site was previously home to a brutalist style building constructed in 1976 – 1979, used as a processing centre for Lloyds bank and was later let to IBM UK Ltd as their office space.
SITE CONTEXT
The site is located, in the heart of London city with easy access to public transport. The nearest under ground station is Southwark. The site is currently in a demolished state and a mixed-use development is proposed.
AREAS'S HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE
West of the Tate Modern art gallery, by the railway lines running onto Blackfriars Bridge and filled a block between the Thames and Southwark Street. The present borough was formed in 1965 by the amalgamation of three former metropolitan boroughs, Bermondsey, Camberwell, and Southwark. Nearly all of Southwark belongs to the historic county of Surrey,
SITE PREVIOUS USAGE
The site was previously home to a brutalist style building constructed in 1976 – 1979, used as a processing centre for Lloyds bank and was later let to IBM UK Ltd as their office space.
PHASE 1 - STEEL FRAME ERECTION The building skeleton made of steel beams and slabs will be erected first. This stage requires skilled labour.
PHASE 2 - community participation The residents are a part of the building construction process. They first choose their unit from one among the 5 typologies available.
PHASE 3 - COMPLETION The completed buildings will have apartment units of various typologies built as per the needs of the residents.
Spirit of the building;
SELF SUFFICIENCY
Self-sustenance factors like in house food production, building maintenance and revenue generation streams have been taken into consideration as part of this concept. The apartment complex is purpose built with principles of self-sustenance and community building at its core. Hydroponic farms provide sources of intensive food production, this coupled with the retail spaces provide avenues for self-sufficiency, revenue and local job creation. As a result of the participation in custom building of the spaces as part of the naked houses concept, the residents garner additional skills and ability to maintain the building.
POST PANDEMIC ADAPTATIONS
Self-sustenance factors like in house food production, building maintenance and revenue generation streams have been taken into consideration as part of this concept. The apartment complex is purpose built with principles of self-sustenance and community building at its core. Hydroponic farms provide sources of intensive food production, this coupled with the retail spaces provide avenues for self-sufficiency, revenue and local job creation. As a result of the participation in custom building of the spaces as part of the naked houses concept, the residents garner additional skills and ability to maintain the building.
COMMUNITY INTERACTION AND PARTICIPATION
At the heart of the design is the desire to encourage community cohesion to develop a healthy support network amidst the stress of urban lifestyle. Various features are integrated to the building structure to encourage regular interaction amongst the resident community. The community zone in the building provides a platform for knowledge share, exchange library and life skills workshops. Urban farming and community participation initiatives provide avenues of common interest and opportunity to build a bond through regular interactions.
REVENUE AND JOB CREATION
Retail space on the ground floor caters to a wide range of amenities like supermarket, launderette, pharmacy, clothing store, recreational facilities, food processing unit and farmer’s market to sell the fresh produce from the hydroponic gardens of the building. In addition to convenience and self-sufficiency, it creates revenue and job creation opportunities for interested residents
STRUCTUARAL ASSEMBLY
CONSTRUCTION PROCESS
FABRICATION The steel structure as well as the individual CLT sheets are fabricated in the factory. This makes the construction process faster while also improving quality and reducing the possibility of errors.
TRANSPORTATION The fabricated building parts are transported from the factory to the construction site.
STEEL STRUCTURE ERECTION The building foundation is built in concrete and the steel structure is erected over it. Due to the light weight nature of CLT, the foundation is very cost effective.
TENANT SELECTION & TRAINING The future occupants are trained in the fabrication of the CLT panels. They will also be given lessons in hydroponic farm construcution and maintenance.
ASSEMBLY OF HOUSING UNITS The pre fabricated CLT panels are assembled on site with the assistance of the tenants themselves
PROJECT HANDOVER The building is handed over to the tenants and all supporting spaces such as the community area, commercial zone etc. are activated
