We were invited in 2011 to submit design proposals for this council-owned linear site on Petticoat Lane, east London.

 

The site lay in a Conservation Area and the brief also requested the incorporation of ground floor retail units as well as housing. Our scheme was shortlisted.

 

The borough has a real tradition of ‘experimentation’ within its housing stock, from philanthropic social housing schemes of the early twentieth century to the various internationally recognised ‘brutalist’ schemes of the 1960’s by architects such as Erno Goldfinger and Alison and Peter Smithson.

 

The brief required new living space as well as a frontage of retail workshops that could serve (and enhance) the popular street market.

 

Our architectural response draws out the textures of the urban environment and satisfies the wish to create homes that had their own identity and front doors off the street.