Newbury Mews

A site that was garages and
workshops, now redeveloped
as mews houses only having
frontal aspect, at a density of 140
units/ha — which is quite high. A
major planning issue concerned
neighbours and overlooking
— hence the blank rears and a
section profile, together with a
‘sedum’ planted roof, so as to offer
existing inhabitants in adjacent
houses a nominally ‘green’ outlook
(as opposed to derelict shed roofs).
Overlooking issues were also crucial
to the face-to-face confrontation
between units and it has all been
well handled.

Haverstock school

New school buildings for an existing institution of 1250 students — while they were on the site. The intentions — which include longer opening hours and access for the community — and the process have been ambitious. In part this is reflected in the bold street facade design. (It’s interesting how the lettering used by Gehry and Venturi some years ago in a more distinctly Po-Mo period is only now being aggressively used in London’s architecture — probably by the generation who were then still studying). Otherwise the building is illustrative of the current govenment’s programme all capital provision onto a public-private partnership basis which, needless to say, has queues of critics bemoaning this wholesale shift to instrumentalism and commerciality as the basis on which the nation provides for its educational needs.

Camden Art Centre

Tony Fretton has rightly established himself in recent years and this modernisation work is a good demonstration of his sensitive ability to knit old and new together into a fresh whole which now provides enhanced gallery spaces and studio facilities for classes and talks, and a new cafe and bookshop. The architects write that: “An entirely new feature is the relocation of the entrance to the ground floor in a new accessible public hall which gives a wide line of sight through the building from back to front and makes visible the bookshop in its new position, the ceramic studio, and a new cafe and garden behind."

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