Nightingale Estate, Hackney, London
- client: Hackney Council
- size: 3,300 sqm
- status: Ongoing
Stephen Taylor Architects in collaboration with Karakusevic Carson Architects and architects Henley Halebrown created a collaborative masterplan for 400 new homes, which forms the final phase of the Nightingale Estate’s regeneration following demolition of five of its six original tower blocks. The project seeks to achieve optimum density through the setting of medium rise tight knit urban blocks. Stephen Taylor Architects also undertook the detailed design for the delivery of a 7000sqm mansion block facing onto a new community park and garden.
STA responded to a complex and demanding brief with an efficient layout based on the repetition of dwelling types. The seventy units in our building are achieved with six repeated unit layouts. The efficiency of the layout allows the entire building to be served by only two circulation cores which were conceived as important points of interaction between residents of the block and the wider Nightingale community.
Particular emphasis was placed on developing a nuanced architectural language for the building, exploring the expressive potential of a complimentary palette of brickwork and cast stone elements. Bay windows enliven the western elevation providing views to the south whilst creating a distinctive rhythm to the street. The bays are articulated with slender cast stone columns and decorative metalwork.
Variation in the bay windows takes place at special moments, when they become curved ‘bow’ windows. These occur at the centre of the building, to denote the two communal residential entrances, and at either end, where they celebrate the point at which the building turns the corner.