128-150 Blackfriars Road

London, UK

Project details
Client

Barratt London

Architect

Maccreanor Lavington

Services provided by Buro Happold

Facade engineering

Bricks are one of construction’s most sustainable components… and they’re back, in a big way. In fact, they’re characterising what could be a new London housing vernacular. And this distinctive, well-proportioned Southwark development located at 128-150 Blackfriars Road, will embody a return to the original fabric of London with its handsome brick facades and detailing.

Incorporating a variety of residential and commercial uses, the five proposed buildings will rise up from 5-28 storeys in height and accommodate 336 one-bedroom suites, apartments, and penthouses with roof gardens, shops, cafes, small businesses, and two public spaces. The apartments have been designed in accordance with the Code for Sustainable Homes, Lifetime Homes, Secured by Design, and Barratt Design Standards, in addition to the applicable legislative and statutory regulations. Our team was enlisted to provide façade engineering for this ambitious new development.

Challenge

From an urban planning point of view, one of our main challenge was to ensure that Blackfriars Circus (the residential buildings) matched the scale of the road. The health and wellbeing of occupants of the two large apartment blocks facing Blackfriars Road was of utmost importance, too, because the successful siting of an amenity space on a busy road is not just down to logistics. Residents have to be happy to live there, too.

The redevelopment of Blackfriars Road will see the area transformed into a tree-lined pedestrian and cycle-friendly boulevard. Image: Buro Happold

Solution

Our facade engineering experts in London worked closely with the architect to assess and verify the thermal, acoustic, and weather resistant performance of various high-quality facade systems. The structural design and careful integration of the chosen facade systems ensured that buildings met the architectural vision.

brick facade london building
The buildings have been constructed using fine quality brickwork, including intricate glazed brick detailing. Image: Buro Happold

Brickwork is the most impressive element of the scheme with glazed brick lining the road and notable detailing above doorways and windows. The bricks used in Blackfriars Circus include Facade Beek, Water Struck Garda, Water Struck Sevan/St Joris, Brown Glazed, White Blend Colour and Green Glazed by Ibstock. These have been fashioned to create decorative motifs and provide subtle variations in colour and texture.

brick facade london building
Our team played a vital role in the realisation of this striking yet elegant facade. Image: Buro Happold

Value

Blackfriars Circus has five roads radiating out like spokes – it’s perfectly equipped to get you where you need to go, quickly. Pavements on the regenerated Blackfriars Road have been widened, trees planted and, for cyclists, a new dedicated superhighway runs from Elephant & Castle to King’s Cross to make both commuting and recreational cycling a lot safer and more pleasurable.

The new development aims to be the centre point of this renewed network where high end apartments find their place next to affordable housing which has been designed and realised to meet the same high quality facade standards. Key to ensuring the highest standard of quality of work was the role played by the Facade team during the construction phase. Our team helped the Main contractor and Developer of the project, Barratt London, to manage the complexity linked to a project with many facade contractors through rigorous and methodical site inspections and coordination workshops with all parties involved.

brick facade london building
Image: Buro Happold
brick facade london building
New buildings along the length of Blackfriars Road will include a new mixed-use quarter, made up of five buildings around a central courtyard. Image: Buro Happold

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