BGArchitecture (formerly Brisac Gonzalez) and Sanchez Benton architects have secured planning approval to deliver fifteen new social rent homes on two former garage sites situated at Westmount Road and Southwood Road, Greenwich.
The schemes form part of a Royal Borough of Greenwich initiave. A total of 22 local authority-owned sites will deliver approximately 152 new social rent homes.
In line with the client and design team’s ambition to deliver high-quality, energy-efficient developments that support the long-term sustainability of the built environment, the homes will use electric energy and be fossil fuel-free, with high-performance fabric and glazing to minimise heat losses. Roof-mounted photovoltaic panels and air source heat pumps have also been incorporated. Overall, the developments are expected to achieve an 84.2% reduction in regulated CO2 emissions.
The Westmount Road scheme transforms a site containing largely underutilised single storey garages into a high-quality social rent home development that will provide generous internal accommodation alongside private and communal external spaces. The building carefully stitches into the existing streetscape, mediating between the two-storey terraced housing to the south and the three-storey residential block to the north. proposal comprises:
– no.2 three-bedroom homes
– no.3 two-bedroom homes
– no.2 one-bedroom homes
All dwellings are dual aspect, maximising long-range views while carefully limiting overlooking. The larger family homes at ground level benefit from generous south-facing gardens that exceed minimum space standards.
The Southwood Road homes are accessed via a welcoming pedestrian alley, offering a sense of community. The entrances to the ground-floor homes have inviting pronounced openings lined with green tiles. The proposal create a practical, cohesive, and enjoyable living environment, while maintaining the privacy of the neighbours and future tenants.
The proposal comprises:
– no.4 two-bedroom homes
– no.4 one-bedroom homes
The scheme has flexible shared outdoor spaces. Within the pronounced staggering volume of the proposed massing there are single storey flats and two storey maisonettes. All homes have dual aspects and private exterior spaces.
Councillor Anthony Okereke, Leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, said:
These latest planning approvals show that despite the challenges facing homebuilders across the country, we are continuing to make headway towards our goal of creating 1,750 new council homes through the Greenwich Builds programme.
Social housing is the surest way to provide homes that are truly affordable, with rents that are linked to local incomes, helping to tackle the housing crisis and giving everyone in our community the option of a safe and secure place to live.
We look forward to seeing construction begin on these homes, which will join the hundreds of other council homes now completed across our borough as part of the wide-ranging Housing Our Greenwich initiative.
Edgar Gonzalez, Director, BGA, said:
Designing high-quality, energy efficient homes built using practical, sensible construction methods on former garage sites and other awkward pockets of land within or close to postwar estates, is never straightforward, often contentious, yet invariably motivating and immensely rewarding. Over the last several years we’ve welcomed such challenges.
For further information, please contact: BGA, Edgar Gonzalez 020 7378 7787