Wealdstone Brook
 

IBLA have designed a housing project on an under-used plot of land on the boundary of Woodcock Park, in the London borough of Brent. 

 

Wealdstone Brook, a narrow watercourse, runs along the southern edge, adjacent to a row of dis-used garages that had once served neighbouring flats but had fallen into disrepair.  The site had been the subject of numerous failed planning applications, and includes a community mural painted by local students in collaboration with a company of graffiti artists.

 

Sensitivity to the privacy and overlooking of the surrounding houses and the outlook of their gardens was required, and, as a response to that, IBLA’s proposal reduces in height across its length. The project creates six new houses, arranged in the form of a short terrace, with a row of four 2-bed houses set between two larger 3-bed family homes, all with generous private gardens. 

 

The soft tones of the surrounding parkland and riverside setting are echoed in the Siberian larch facade. Top floor bedrooms sit within a pitched clay tile roof, so the block reads as predominantly single storey, with dormers giving views over the waterway, and creating an animated roof form.  This varied silhouette is bookended with a timber clad ‘tower’ element at the eastern boundary, which commands the crossing point of the brook. New trees and planted areas along the front face of the new terrace, and an expansive gravelled forecourt create a communal entrance.  All the units have direct access to Wealdstone Brook from their living rooms, via a rear raised deck. IBLA have also incorporated the existing mural into the project, as a wall that screens the new development from the public footpath that leads to the park.