A new development in Hither Green providing much needed high quality housing, comprising of a large, detached Villa accommodating 8No. apartments and a single, family-sized, detached residential House.
This project provided structural challenges due to the poor near-surface ground conditions and the complex and detailed elevations. Shallow mass concrete foundations were adopted to raise the building off the underlying gravels with suitable bearing capacity. The design references the historical Victorian Villas in both scale and mass and is wrapped in a brick envelope with articulation in stone, stone and timber.
There is sufficient volume of masonry within the north and south elevations of the Villa for the material to contribute to the vertical loadbearing elements of the structure. Open plan living within the apartments is achieved with larger spans between the loadbearing walls, so reinforced concrete floor slabs were adopted which could be moulded to suit openings for the services. Internally, concrete core walls provide both vertical support to the floors and lateral stability to the building.
On the east and west elevations, the facades are more lightweight and accommodate more glazing, so steel beams and columns and reinforced concrete columns were introduced to provide vertical support between the glazing.
The hipped roof lowers the eaves of the top floor, in line with proportions of neighbouring properties, and this geometry is formed with steel beams and timber infill.
Swipe for more
