Last night was a terrific night for the Apt studio; as we saw Holly Mclean gracing the stage at the RIBA in Portland Place to collect a greatly deserved first prize award in the BA Architecture category, as voted for by the regions South East London Architects.
Holly's submission, King’s Yard Community; ‘responds to the especially high number of older homeless people in Deptford. Being much more than just a hostel, it is designed to help people rebuild their lives, offering security, a home and meaningful employment for life.
Every aspect of the community is designed to support the residents, by raising awareness of homelessness, providing a range of training opportunities, encouraging volunteering to integrate the local and wider community, thereby creating a circular economy.
The biophilic, landscape led masterplan aims to improve the wellbeing of residents by creating a green haven, improved air quality, connections with nature and water and a total escape from the hostility of living on the streets of London. It further integrates the local community by providing a wildlife corridor between urban Deptford & the river front.
The design avoids institutional blocks, in favour of organic, human scale residential clusters, in a landscaped setting, offering varying levels of privacy. Mindful of the residents’ backgrounds the biodiverse swale extending deep into the site, provides natural separation between the residential and public areas avoiding the need for institutional/security fences and walls.
Almost every aspect of the masterplan, site layout, materiality and building design has been informed by the rich maritime heritage of the site, traditional timber ship building and proximity to the river Thames. The name ‘Kings Yard Community’ even harks back to the original Royal Charter of King Henry VIII in 1513.'
Well done Holly – it’s a fantastic achievement and all members of the studio could not be prouder of you and what you’ve achieved.
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