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Newington Green

This 200-room student housing regeneration project for the Shaftesbury Housing Group, is located on a site within the Newington Green Conservation Area, Islington and is occupied by students from City University.


Student housing

Islington, London		 The design is effectively split into two distinct parts - the retention and refurbishment of the China Inland Mission Building fronting Newington Green and the replacement of Alliance House to the rear. The site is quite large in urban terms about 4,934 m2 of which less than a quarter, 1,260 m2 was previously built on at low density. Longest on the east-west axis, the site receives good sunlight at most times of the day. There are a significant number of mature trees on the site and this, combined with the leafy rear gardens of the adjacent properties, gives the impression of a 'secret garden' in the centre of the city. There was general consensus that although not listed, the China Inland Mission Building makes a positive contribution to the character and appearance of the conservation area. The building presents a symmetrical facade to the street centred on the arch, but at ground level the balance of the main block was obscured by a single storey brick extension extending to the street. There was also no public use at ground floor, which was certainly a missed opportunity in this location. The scheme has involved the demolition of the single storey brick extension on the front facade, and replaced it with two small single storey extensions providing a pair of contemporary entrances, forming a symmetrical composition, either side of the main screen gate arch. They also act as 'bookends' to the existing single storey retail units on the adjacent sites. The extensions provide a pair of individual shop units occupying the entire ground floor of each wing. The basement beneath is used for either retail/storage or ancillary accommodation (laundry & common rooms) for the student accommodation. In the rear section of the site four free standing buildings of varying size are orientated north south across the width of the site opening up views and sunlight paths through the site. The buildings are arranged as objects in the wider context of the garden which is bounded by the neighbouring buildings and in a sense the adjacent gardens are being used as Ôborrowed landscapeÕ to create a larger whole within the centre of the urban block. Due to the tight economic restraints on student accommodation it is often difficult to break the 'tyranny' of elevations made up of repetitive square windows and invariably this often leads to an impression of mean spirited institutionalisation. At Newington Green the landscaped site generated an enthusiasm between client and designer to be more radical with the elevational treatment. A more abstract approach was taken, responding to the informal vertical patterns of the existing trees in the landscape. The buildings are planned as a series of apartments with either 5 or 7 ensuite study bedrooms with a self-contained kitchen/dining room. Each with prefabricated shower and wc pods, the rooms face either east or west around a series of open courtyard gardens. This orientation gives greater coherence to the community within the residence as the majority of windows face into the site, which maintains privacy and avoids overlooking affecting neighbouring properties. NEWINGTON GREEN
Client: Shaftesbury Housing Group
Value £7,000,000
Completion 2005

RIBA Award 2006