Justin Court, Croydon (works completed while at MDR Associates)
Client London Hotel Group
Project
The existing building which contained 12 apartments was of poor construction quality creating many user issues, and visually offered little to the surrounding area, but was a high yielding asset which restricted available design options.
The site had been the subject of several previous planning applications by other architects to extend the building, all of which had been resisted by the local authority.
We adopted an alternative design approach, one that would improve the existing building appearance and win the support of the local planning authority, rather than just add additional mass, while allowing nine of the twelve apartments to remain in full occupation for the duration and completion of the contract works, making the scheme proposals viable.
By re-facing the building, to improve both the thermal performance and visual appearance, the local authority recognised the benefits the scheme proposals would provide to the local area and approved proposals to add another floor and construct a side extension.
The design delivered 9 new apartments, 2 x studio’s, 2 x 1 bed 2 person, and 5 x 2 bedroom 3 person apartments, in addition 3 existing 2 bedroom apartments were enlarged to become 3 bedroom apartments.
Before and after