BUILDING STUDY BRENTFORD LOCK WEST DUGGAN MORRIS ARCHITECTS

摘要

Following a successful competition in September2011, Duggan Morris, Riches Hawley Mikhail and Karakusevic Carson were selected to collaborate and progress phase one of a wider masterplan by Swedish urban designers Tovatt Architects and Klas Tham together with Urbed. The large, industrial site is located adjacent to the lock and the river in the heart of Brentford. Despite a nationwide decline in heavy industry, water-based industries and infrastructure at the junction of the Grand Union Canal have survived remarkably intact. Brentford, one of the UK's most important waterway junctions, has retained a strong cluster of water-based employment, expertise and industry. Defined by a gritty, industrial character, the human-scale character of Brentford's riverscape lends itself ideally to atrue mixed-use community. Block G is low cost (£1,972 per m~2) mixed tenure housing consisting of 45 residential units fronting on to the canal-side and split over two plots. The design brief called for a strong, contextual relationship with the waterfront location. The buildings are conceived as cranked blocks following a meandering neighbourhood street held together by a large base plinth.