Project overview
In November, Eight Artillery Row was presented with the BDA Chairman’s Award at the 2015 Brick Awards. Designed by Make Architects for clients Victoria Property Holdings and LBS Properties, this competition-winning design proposed the refurbishment and extension of an existing 1980s office building in Victoria to provide twenty-two private residential apartments over eight levels, plus ground floor retail space. The prefabricated panels were built off-site with torpedo wind posts, soffit panels, heads and sills being by FabSpeed. With an area of 3,000m2 the project brief consisted of retaining and reconfiguring part of the original building fabric, with judges’ comments stating: “The brickwork had to be meticulous and the new brick façade makes a really positive contribution to the street scene.” The clay material consisted of a Charnwood bespoke brick blend, to draw from the fine examples of historic buildings within the nearby Westminster Cathedral Conservation Area. Judges continued: “The careful attention to detail has produced a sustainable building, and with many brick specials incorporated in complex elevations it provides an incredibly successful response to a demanding design. This building exemplifies the kind of refurbishment project that we need if we are to regenerate our inner cities areas in a sustainable way and create the kind of environments which people value and where they want to live.”
The building is situated in a prime corner site which enjoys one of the most enviable locations in London. The highly sustainable design stripped the existing building back to its primary structure and replaced the shell and roof with a robust, simple form that ties in sensitively to the local context whilst installing a highly insulated façade. Re-introducing the historic curved corner was an integral part of the design which now includes an elegant contemporary clock that doubles up as a window. This design proves to be a successful interpretation of residential development and leads the way for the refurbishment of our cities.
