丨英国伦敦丨Levitt Bernstein

Vaudeville Court, Islington

Info

Project Details: An innovative, holistic social housing scheme in north London, which makes the most of every single millimetre of its site.

Client: London Borough of Islington

Construction Value: £2.7m

Completion: 2015

Location: Islington

Awards:

London Planning Awards 2017: Best Community Led Project: Shortlisted

RIBA Awards 2016: London: Winner

Civic Trust Awards 2016: Regional Finalist

Blueprint Awards 2016: Best Non-Public Project (Residential): Shortlisted

Planning & Placemaking Awards 2016: Best Housing Scheme (500 homes or less): Shortlisted

London Planning Awards 2016, Best New Place to Live: Shortlisted

Building Awards 2015, Small Project of the Year (up to £5m): Winner

Housing Design Awards 2015, Completed Project: Shortlisted

New London Awards 2015, Housing: Shortlisted

British Homes Awards 2015, Affordable Housing Development of the Year: Commended

Housing Design Awards 2012, Project Award: Winner

New London Awards 2012, Homes: Commended

London Planning Awards 2010, Best Conceptual Project Category: Shortlisted

The Islington Housing Competition 2009: Winner

Images: Tim Crocker

Community engagement

Dual aspect homes

Social value

Post-occupancy evaluation

Infill development

New homes

Renewables on site

Low energy use

Enhanced biodiversity

Where we started

Vaudeville Court began life as an open design competition, held by the London Borough of Islington, to explore what affordable family housing in the borough could look like in the 21st century. Always putting residents first, Islington has a history of supporting new, innovative social housing models, from Victorian terraces to progressive post-war Lubetkin developments. This competition sought to provide new high quality homes for council tenants, exploring not only what form the housing could take, but also how it could fit into the small pockets of space that the borough has at its disposal to provide further homes for those who need them the most.

The project infills a previous garage site to create 13 new homes

Our plans are sensitive to the existing trees and include a new edible planting strategy

The site was an underused set of garages, serving a tower block, and located at the end of two terraced streets. It presented issues common across the borough: anti-social behaviour around the garages, problems of scale between the two housing types, and a need to work sensitively with the existing communities.

The project was designed for this garage site in Finsbury Park but can be replicated on similar infill sites.

The challenge for us was about balancing the pressures that come with urban housing. The design needed to provide spacious family homes at inner-city densities; maximise indoor space at the same time as giving everyone generous outdoor space; balance communal space with privacy; and knit all of this together with the existing community adjacent.

Two terraces are separated by gardens

A communal garden links the terraces to the adjacent tower

Brick trelliswork provides space for growing plants

The project cleverly integrates into its surroundings

Design

Our response was based around a new philosophy of ‘home-sown’ housing. Inspired by the market gardens of Islington’s past, and the popular gardening clubs of its present, we imagined the scheme as a holistic, productive landscape, where every single surface – public or private, indoor or outdoor – is designed to be useful.

The design features 13 dwellings in a mixture of duplex homes on the ground and first floors, and two bedroom apartments above. Arranged in two terraces, with private gardens between them, the architectural design heals the existing terraces, using a formal frontage to reinforce the line of the buildings next door.

Garden rooms give families extra amenity and storage space

Space was maximised to create private courtyards for family living

The frontage of the duplex homes is created with a kitchen garden and fruit tree along the street, to further reference the surrounding terraces. The family homes are dual aspect, with the living space running seamlessly from the front garden, through an open plan interior, out to the private courtyard garden beyond.

At the end of the rear garden is a flexible ’garden’ room, which can be used for work, play or additional storage. Again, the aim here is to make the most of every millimetre of space: the roofs are planted to minimise their visual impact and surface water run-off and maximise biodiversity.

Section illustrating the project’s configuration

Throughout, we were asking ourselves the golden question: could I live here? What would I want to see out of my kitchen windows if I did? Fruit trees, gardening clubs and children playing in the back garden.

Lotta Nyman, Associate Director

Vaudeville Court’s success can be seen in the community that’s taking root there. The scheme shows what’s possible on even the tightest site: through inventive design, it’s given 13 families and their neighbours the space to live, grow and thrive in the most urban of settings.

Jo McCafferty, Director

The apartments on the upper storeys are accessed via covered decks, which are partly open to the elements and thus far more convivial than corridors. Brick lattice screens are carefully placed to ensure privacy, whilst also providing even more space for plants to grow. Each deck is shared by only three households to encourage a sense of community.

The final element of the design are the communal gardens which surround the scheme. These are shared with residents of the tower block, and will be run by the tower’s gardening club. As such, they’ll create a means to ’grow’ two neighbourhoods together.

Typical home layout

Ground floor plan

First floor plan

Second floor plan

Third floor plan

Core team

Jo McCafferty

Director

Lotta Nyman

Associate Director

Rebekka Perkins

Associate