Claredale Street, Bethnal Green, London



Architect
 Karakusevic Carson Architects
Date Built
 2011
Location
 Claredale Street and Mansford Street
Description
This award winning housing development in Bethnal Green occupies a site between Claredale Street and Sheldon Place that was previously home to Bradley House, a low-rise residential block designed by Denys Lasdun.  Whilst Lasdun’s refurbished Keeling House is still standing at the end of Claredale Street, Bradley House was demolished to make way for this development, commissioned by Tower Hamlets Community Housing.  Designed by the architectural practice of Karakusevic Carson Architects, it received the RIBA Award 2011, Civic Trust Award 2011, Housing Design Award 2010 “Richard Fielden: Best Affordable Housing" presented by HCA, Evening Standard Award for “Best Family Housing” 2010, and the Cabe "Building for Life" Gold Award 2010.  The development involves a number of blocks containing a wide variety of homes from studio flats to three bedroom homes and a diverse mixture of tenancies.



At the Mansford Street end stands a seven-storey apartment block.  The “Housing Design Awards” website  says that, “Its penthouses have a continuous glazed balustrade to the balcony giving exceptional unbroken views through. The six storeys of apartments below range from studios to 3-bed and have large cantilevered balconies facing east or west.”






Across a semi-secure courtyard from the apartment block is a U-shaped block that, “... puts town houses on three sides for social rent with rear gardens behind, and on its western edge shallow 10 m frontage single-aspect 2-storey market sale units with private terraces in front.” 








Further down Claredale Street is a 3-storey terrace,

“... many houses in this 3-storey terrace, whose massing, window lines and even colour palette echo the Victorian terrace to its south, have two doors to the street. One opens to a ground-floor flat whose deep plan pushes some accommodation to the very back of the site, wrapping a private courtyard space with glazed walls. The other door opens to stairs taking residents up to a duplex apartment on first and second floors. These have a small recessed balcony to the street’ and a rear terrace at second storey. These units, which face real 4-bed 6-person town houses across a pedestrianised street are mostly shared ownership.”





All the blocks have green roofs, with southward tilted solar panels for hot water.  The buildings are clad in copper sheets that are fixed in irregular patterns.