Morpeth Road
Morpeth Road
The scheme, developed for a Peabody Housing competition, is situated on a long and thin site, with a variety of conditions along its length. The challenge is to create a proposal which responds to the various conditions in a flexible way, while avoiding overshadowing of neighbouring properties or any overlooking of windows. We wanted our proposal to give the appearance of a collection of small buildings, each with their own relationship to context, within an overall composition that gives the street a sense of place.
The proposal is to insert a sinuous line of decorative concrete panels to ground level running the length of the street. This wall is made of a series of panels that twist and separate to allow glimpses of gardens, and interior views along the street to animate the street and create security through overlooking. Above this we insert a series of timber framed pods that are sized to fit on a lorry so they can be transported to site whole, reducing site time and allowing for high quality control in a factory. They are orientated either towards the street (with balconies for privacy) or parallel to give views into internal gardens. The ground level incorporates concrete elements to support the pods while acting as thermal stores.