Clarson House

Clarson House is a clever response to a difficult site that will provide an attractive, well-planned place to live for its residents.

Architecture Today

Client Wandle Housing
Location Kennington, London
Completion 2012
Cost £15m

Services

RIBA stages 1-6
Feasibility study
Architectural design
Public consultation
Code for Sustainable Homes Level 3

Awards

RIBA London Regional Award – Shortlisted
Brick Awards – Shortlisted

This mixed-tenure residential scheme created 103 shared ownership and socially rented family homes on a triangular site on Camberwell New Road in Southwark.

The articulated building form steps up from three to five storeys in height and encloses a landscaped courtyard at its heart with commercial space at ground level and a mix of private and communal terraces on upper levels.

On a red route in a high-density area, the scheme successfully overcomes significant site constraints and urban design issues and makes a feature of a tight corner with glazed winter gardens.

The building seeks to sit sympathetically with the buildings in the nearby conservation area. Vertical emphasis is achieved through floor to ceiling windows with vertical insert timber panels, which bathe the dwellings in light.

Brick was chosen as a robust external material which reflects the local context. Fully glazed winter gardens are located at the main corners of the site to create landmark features which can be viewed from the main approaches and also provide acoustic protection from Camberwell New Road.