ECA are very pleased to announce that after many years of hard work, discussions and iterations of designs, our design for a tower in London’s Borough of Croydon has been submitted for planning.
ECA were commissioned in 2015 to develop a scheme that provided much needed affordable and market housing for the borough. The first iteration of the design consisted of 285units spread across 40 storeys and was entered in for a Planning Performance Agreement with Croydon Council in November 2017.
Since initiating the PPA the scheme was critiqued at a Place Review Panel and by the GLA. It was also given review from a whole host of planning officers and heritage officers at Croydon Council. In short, the design was received positively albeit with a few recommendations for change. This is the first time ECA had entered into a PPA agreement with a council and as a whole the experience has been positive. It enabled ECA and the client to get an honest review and impression from the council as to the scheme’s viability on this site as well as valued feedback that would help shape and inform the design of the tower.
The developed scheme now in for consideration, boasts 242 units on 34th storeys with a roof terrace on the 35th floor that offers views out across Croydon. The proposal also provided additional amenity space on the rooftops of the lower elements of the building designed by ARC our landscape consultants.
In terms of architectural form the building displays two halves of a tower that appear to slip from one another to not only create a slender building form but to also provide visual interest and break up the building’s mass. This technique can also be seen in the variation between building heights at the top of the tower where the west facing element sits lower than the east facing element helping to articulate the mass and retain the slenderness ratios at the top of the tower.
The facade treatment has been designed to give emphasis to the slipped concept of the building form by using a darker bronze paneling to the lower tower element and a lighter bronze paneling to the higher tower element. The slipped concept is also adorned within the vertical bronze paneling in-between the brick piers on the facade where they emulate irregular strips that give the building’s facade treatment more depth and visual interest.
The undulation of the bronze paneling on the south and north facades are reminiscent of gill like forms. The horizontal brick piers that become more slender from start to finish have been designed to give the building rhythm and a sense of movement. The bronze allow the building to breathe, providing a ventilation zone that allows for additional natural ventilation to the rooms without the need to open windows.
ECA are very pleased to announce the submission of this planning application and will continue to update you with its progress.
Planning Reference: 18/06069/FUL
