Fraser Brown MacKenna Architects have designed a development comprising of 234 student rooms and a nursery in a sensitive location on the edge of two conservation areas in Hammersmith. The site on Paddenswick Road lies within the mainly residential Ravenscourt Park area of Hammersmith and adjoins two conservation areas.
The previous building on-site dated from the early twentieth century and was used as a police section house until 1996 and since that time as a hostel. Initially a retrofit option was explored, however the number of internal level changes would be costly to resolve and the poor thermal quality of the building envelope meant retaining the façade was unviable. It was decided that in the long-term, the more sustainable option would be to redevelop the site; however the existing buildings remained a key design driver. Ravenscourt House provided an obvious starting point; the volume and articulation of the hostel was an established and admired feature of the townscape and while the façade could not be retained, we were keen to carry through the relevant and positive attributes to inform the language of the new buildings, particularly through the detailing of the brickwork.
The new design is arranged into three volumes of reducing height, the tallest on the principal frontage to Paddenswick Road, linked together at ground floor level. This simplified plan responds to the surrounding grain and creates a slender profile to each of the buildings, with landscaped courtyards between that enhance views and maximize natural light. Whilst the overall height of the new building is lower than the existing hostel, the new development offers more accommodation; 234 self-contained studio bedrooms together with communal facilities and a nursery for the adjoining John Betts Primary School. The design of the new buildings is a contextual response.
We developed an architectural language that draws on recognizable characteristics of the surrounding Victorian and Edwardian buildings but does not seek to imitate particular styles. Brick is the principal material, with changes in tone and different bonds used to create subtle variations between the three volumes.
The principal frontage to Paddenswick Road is the most dynamic. A white ground floor plinth gives way to three floors of highly modelled brickwork with projected headers within the Flemish Bond. This energy is enhanced through chamfered window surrounds and two storey projecting bays. The double height windows provide a strong vertical emphasis; an echo of the former Section House. The fourth and fifth storeys are less heavily modelled and capped by a band of intricately detailed brickwork with the headers removed, announcing the material change to the uppermost storeys which are clad in zinc and recessed from the main footprint.
The frontage to John Betts Primary School provides a new nursery on the ground floor, accessible from the school grounds; its entrance announced by a slender canopy. Two storeys of highly modelled buff London Stock brick are set under the uppermost storey, clad in zinc – the proportions and material treatment respecting the neighbouring building, a former school house. High level windows allow natural light into the corridors but avoid overlooking the playground.
Appointed by Abanar LLP and South Street Asset Management, Fraser Brown MacKenna secured a resolution to grant planning permission from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in August 2011. The development was completed in September 2014.
