
Elsdale Street
This new building provides transitional accommodation for former rough sleepers. The scheme, which is supported by a resident warden, includes 12 one-bedroom flats as well as shared facilities such as interview and counselling rooms. As part of the design process, the artist Nayan Kuulkarni ran a series of workshops with prospective residents to generate ideas for creative interventions to the communal areas.
The three-storey building has an engineered timber frame, which was prefabricated off site and erected in just two weeks.
Responding to the challenging urban context, the street facade is clad in brick, punctuated by generous bay windows. The timber-clad courtyard elevations have a softer, more intimate feel, with shared balconies overlooking a secure private garden. These external areas are important social spaces for the residents.
A high-density mix of shared ownership accommodation will be added to the site in a second phase of the project.