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29/06/2010
The first Phase of Chatham Place, a new development in the heart of Reading, designed by Cartwright Pickard architects has recently been completed. The largest building with its eye-catching design incorporates 211 contemporary apartments and penthouses. All are designed with light and space in mind, coupled with the high level of specification making it an ideal place to live, with easy access for both work and leisure.
The building’s striking design incorporates projecting bays along its east elevation, angled to face south and incorporate coloured glass panels that project colour onto its silver anodized aluminium facades at certain times of day. Smaller projecting bays to the north of the building also have coloured glass panels, whilst the elevations facing the courtyard space within the building’s outer shell are clad in larch timber, providing a warm feel to the building’s interior space. The interior courtyard treatment is designed to contrast with the building’s hard outer shell. Paved and landscaped with lawns, low shrub planting and trees in raised beds, it provides a welcome seating area for residents.
The scheme comprises three distinctive blocks, three new streets and a major area of public realm. A new pedestrian street (Chatham Place) runs east to west through the centre of the site and provides an important first step in the creation of a new street pattern and urban structure for the area. The three buildings within Phase One, which also include Keyworker Housing and New Public Car Park, of the development have distinctive and contemporary elevational treatments that reflect the prominent nature of the development within Reading. The buildings draw from a common palate of materials, however within each, their use is varied to create interest and avoid the development appearing as a large and amorphous block.
Cartwright Pickard Architects also produced a new masterplan for this £250 regeneration project which received outline planning permission.
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