Camden Estate, London, UK

Project type:	Estate & Housing Renewal
Client:	London Borough of Islington
Stage:	Completed

Providing much needed, affordable housing through sensitive infill

Camden Estate is a sensitive estate infill project in the London Borough of Islington. It includes 16 one and two bedroom apartments, of which half are provided for private sale and will help to cross-subsidise the other flats and four family homes on a nearby site.

JTP was appointed by London Borough of Islington to undertake a review of opportunities for residential infill development on the Camden Estate. This feasibility study involved detailed site analysis and consultation with the local community and planning authority.

Two sites were felt to represent viable opportunities for providing much needed new local authority homes, as well as private sale units to cross subsidise development. JTP was subsequently appointed to prepare Detailed Planning Applications for these two sites, again working closely with the local community via regular meetings with the Tenants and Residents Association (TRA) and larger scale community exhibitions and workshops.

Planning approval was granted in March 2015 and the project was completed in 2017.

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Taking a comprehensive approach to infill development could expedite housing delivery, boost building firms and improve existing places.

Delivering Infill Development, A London 2050 briefing paper

Project Delivery

– The first site comprises a terrace of four houses for affordable rent, which principally look into private courtyard gardens, but also overlook a new pedestrian walkway.

– The second site comprises 16 homes in a mix of one- and two-bedrooms dwellings, including two wheelchair accessible apartments on the ground floor, split equally between private sale and affordable rent.

– A generous pedestrian and cycle route is provided between the new and existing properties.

– The homes are designed with large windows, inset balconies and simple brick detailing, to sit comfortably alongside the existing buildings on the estate and the period homes in neighbouring streets.

– Estate wide improvement works were included to complement the development and offer wider benefits for the community, including the expansion and enhancement of the community growing area and improvements to the communal gardens through the addition of play equipment and enhanced planting.

– The buildings are designed to achieve Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4, with high levels of insulation in the walls and good quality windows. This will have huge benefits for the new residents, providing warmer and more comfortable homes, with significant reductions in heating bills.