High Road, Seven Kings
Project: High Road, Seven Kings
Location: Ilford, London
Status: Under Construction
The brief
High Road, Seven Kings sits in the rapidly changing East London Borough of Redbridge. The area is undergoing an ambitious regeneration programme as a result of its location within the Crossrail corridor, which is expected to lead to an increase in population by 20% over the next decade. Redbridge London Borough Council has developed an emerging masterplan to address housing need and the site, at 587-585 High Road, occupies a prime position within this.
Currently vacant and in need of regeneration to revitalise the failing High Street, we were approached to design a residential-led scheme comprising 58 apartments over nine storeys together with ground floor commercial unit, communal green space and play areas.
Our approach
An extensive pre-application process has been undertaken on Seven Kings to ensure the proposed development would sympathetically blend with the elevations of adjacent sites and provide a unified street frontage. Our design evolved as the townscape emerged and responded to neighbouring applications with a proposal to unite the urban fabric.
This included a ten-storey building that would step in at different levels to create distance from its neighbours and a more dynamic roofline. The building’s ‘shoulders’ could then be used for communal amenity space.
Our design
The design principles for Seven Kings focused on continuing the street hierarchy, reactivating the frontage and maximising any external spaces and landscaping. Situated within a designated ‘Tall Building Zone’, our ten-storey design adopts the grid pattern and material palette from neighbouring buildings. Different layers of coloured brickwork, brick reveals and metal railings are incorporated to emphasise openings, verticality and break up the massing. At ground level and on the sixth, seventh and tenth floors, play areas/green spaces have been included, featuring climbing frames, stepping logs and timber seating to enjoy views across the city.
All apartments are dual aspect and have inset balconies to maximise daylight and provide private outdoor space. 10% are wheelchair accessible with the remainder fully adaptable. Seven Kings is designated a Public Transport Access Level (PTAL) 3, meaning it is easily accessible by sustainable methods of transport. As such, the scheme is designed as car free but includes double height cycle storage, representing 104 spaces, together with two blue badge parking spaces and five large accessible cycle stands.
The Result
Planning permission was granted in November 2020 and work is now on site for completion in 2024.
The project team is also preparing a proposal for one of the neighbouring sites, 603 High Road, as a mixed-use hotel and residential development of between 14-18 storeys.