Brick By Brick has submitted three schemes consisting of 170 homes on small sites across the borough for planning permission
The schemes are being designed by three architectural practices, both up and coming and established, selected for their ability to deliver high quality, sustainable homes on small and sometimes challenging sites, with designs that are both innovative and sympathetic to their context.
All homes in the latest three schemes will be affordable – the vast majority for affordable rent and the remainder shared ownership.
Holmesdale Road
Designed by Mae, is a development of 89 new homes just north of Selhurst Station. The three new buildings are sited on an existing series of garage courts between council blocks and a railway line, with extensive landscaping and public realm improvements to carefully integrate them into the setting.
New play spaces, cycle stores, a car club and ground-floor community space will serve both new and existing residents.
All buildings share a visual language and façade treatment that has been carefully developed in response to their relative scales, featuring high-quality brickwork and acoustic panels to provide protection from the adjacent railway.
The apartments, which have between one and three bedrooms, will be available for affordable rent (88%) or shared ownership (12%).
Arnhem Drive
Designed by Gort Scott, comprises 56 new homes across two buildings in New Addington.
The development is situated between existing council blocks within an abundance of green space, including the adjacent Milne Park and Addington Vale.
Landscaping works, such as tree planting, new pathways and play spaces, will further enhance the public realm for the whole community. New cycle stores will also be integrated within the landscape.
Headley Drive
Also located in New Addington and comprises 25 new homes in two buildings on opposite sides of a residential junction.
The homes have been cleverly designed by Threefold Architects in response to the steeply sloping site and suburban context, with the buildings oriented to minimise impact on neighbours and maximise natural light.
All three schemes feature a number of measures to improve sustainability performance, including enhanced building fabric and air source heat pumps – a renewable heat incentive that avoids the need to connect into the gas network.
Meeting local needs
Colm Lacey, chief executive of Brick By Brick, said: “I am delighted to submit these three beautifully-designed, sustainable schemes, part of our ongoing programme of affordable housing delivery, for planning determination.
“Now more than ever there is a need for high-quality affordable accommodation across London and these proposals for Holmesdale Road, Arnhem Drive and Headley Drive aim to provide a means to address an urgent local need.”
Any revenues and profit from development activity are returned to the council to be reinvested in Croydon – supporting frontline services and enabling more affordable homes to be built.
The Headley drive site is to small for these homes, there will not be enough space for motor vehicles to park, it will be much worse when electric vehicles are rolled-out. I also worry there are no green spaces for the kids to play.
The lack of parking will be deliberate, part of a green agenda. The land for the Holmesdale Road scheme has been taken from garage blocks, so there must be a significant reduction in local parking and storage options being forced through here. Councils want to force people out of their cars and make them walk or cycle or use public transport, irrespective of the practicality and where people actually work, shop or send their children to school. There are as usual plenty of spaces reserved exclusively for disabled people in the image above, but I doubt very much whether any consideration has been given to the needs of potential residents who are self-employed tradespeople with vans and need to park in secure locations.