New council houses on Clapton’s Mandeville Street are close to completion following coronavirus-related delays, with families due to move in this spring.
Hackney Council shared the first images of the modern homes on Twitter last Friday, after the plans were first announced in 2018.
A wider social initiative
Part of a social housing initiative, the Council aims to build more than 400 homes on underused council land, with 70 per cent for social rent and shared ownership.
Previously empty garages, the site has been turned into 11 houses, five of which are social rent homes for residents in need of housing. The other six are for shared ownership for those who cannot afford to buy a property outright.
The disused parking area will also see a tree-lined street create a pedestrian link with Oswald Street, turning the alley into a mews.
Contractors Kind and Co temporarily closed the site in 2020 due to coronavirus, postponing the initially projected completion date of autumn that year.
Hackney’s Mayor aims to transform underused areas
Philip Glanville, Mayor of Hackney, said: “Turning grey, underused areas that will never be car parking again into homes has so many benefits.”
“Reducing anti-social behaviour, greening the grey with gardens and public space, creates new safe routes, and helps tackle climate change; but most of all it helps build new council homes,” he tweeted.
Designing the site
The project was designed by architects Al-Jawad Pike, an award-winning London-based studio. They said the site’s “unusual shape and complex boundary conditions require a nuanced response”.
They also hope the introduction of a pedestrian thoroughfare will “contribute to the reactivation of the public realm”.
The architects explained how the buildings’ gable or pitched roofs were inspired by the “distinctive silhouette” of Mandeville Primary School, a Grade II Listed structure.
The project is one of three on the Clapton Park Estate transforming underused council spaces into housing. Daubeney Road will see a car park turned into 11 homes, while a boiler house on Pedro Street will be replaced by 26 houses.
