Can housing be more like a home?

[Y/N] Studio have achieved planning permission for a 235m2 public house and 8 apartments in Hounslow, West London.

The building’s form takes inspiration from the immediate context, combining the efficiency and density of a multi-storey apartment building with the character and familiarity of a traditional pitched roof home.  The resulting five storey hybrid form allows 100% of the apartments to be double or triple aspect and creates duplex penthouses with double height living areas.  The pitched roof form also creates additional roof area allowing more opportunities for both skylights and photovoltaic panels improving environmental performance of the building.

The design aims to both visually and functionally separate the public house from the residences above.  The residential entrance is an external ‘cut’ which creates a view into a communal garden for residents.  The re-provided pub is signified by a diagonal corner ‘chamfer’ which creates a generous covered entrance and more public frontage.  A lightweight covering over the beer garden provides necessary visual and acoustic separation.

The proposed materiality is inspired by the 1930’s building which it replaces, with red and green hues re-created in brick and pre-cast concrete panels respectively. The façade is arranged as a chequerboard of varying proportioned windows framing landscape views towards Hounslow Heath and portrait windows in bedroom areas.  To the east, projecting windows  restrict overlooking of neighbours and create internal seating areas.

Through careful integration of sustainable technology including photovoltaic panels and air source heat pumps the building will achieve an on-site carbon reduction of 53% beyond building regulations.  This is a substantial improvement on the 35% requirement as stated in the London Plan.

Work is already underway on the construction information with the project scheduled to start on site soon.