Dockley Apartments
Architect: Studio Woodroffe Papa, Poggi Architecture
Location: Southwark, London, England
Type: Residential
Year: 2022
Photographs: Tim Crocker
The following description is courtesy of the architects. Anglo-Dutch architecture practice, Studio Woodroffe Papa, and Bordeaux-based Poggi Architecture have completed a mixed-use scheme on Dockley Road in the London Borough of Southwark for developer Matching Green. With a distinct visual presence, the 111-unit residential scheme provides a European take on housing design for the capital and the rest of the UK.
Occupying a former industrial site, surrounded by housing estates and a railway viaduct, the scheme incorporates private, shared ownership and social housing tenures. A mixture of shops, restaurants, and cafes, along with artisan food producers and wholesalers are located at ground level and in the adjacent railway arch, which make up part of the wider regeneration of the railway arches along Southwark’s ‘Low Line’.
In contrast to the boxy tower blocks typically found in mid-rise, high density UK housing developments, Dockley Apartments has a strong visual presence that combines undulating geometries of balconies with a stepped building form. The development ranges from four to nine storeys, with the varying heights responding to the site’s surrounding context. Dark brick at ground level is combined with a steel rainscreen façade at the upper levels and give a nod to the area’s industrial heritage.
Comprised of a combination of 1, 2 and 3-bed units, all residents benefit from large, shaded balconies and naturally ventilated, dual aspect apartments. Drawing on European collective housing where significant design attention is given to communal space, the new development provides generous outdoor amenity space that delivers social impact and a sense of wellbeing for its residents. The residential units are arranged around a shared courtyard that includes dedicated children’s play spaces. Residents access their homes from wide galleries that circulate and overlook the communal courtyard and extend onto roof terraces on the first, fourth and fifth levels which have planting and benches.
With a national conversation on delivering high-quality housing becoming increasingly necessary, Dockley Apartments offers a timely intervention for the capital, acting as an exemplar for how to achieve collective living in urban housing schemes that emphasise community-building, wellbeing and social value.
Commenting on the completion of the project, Studio Woodroffe Papa director, Jonathan Woodroffe said: “It was great to work with a client that wanted to deliver social and economic value for the local area. Our scheme is helping to activate the local economy of the surrounding railway arches, while also providing generous and flexible living space for tenants. The activities of the courtyard and play spaces contribute to the life of the street through visual permeability at ground level and we hope it helps not only in providing good quality housing but also in helping create a community for the local area.”
Emmanuelle Poggi, founder of Poggi Architecture, added: “For us, this project became a success story from the early competition stage, because it answered both the needs of the client and also demonstrated a big ambition for the site, offering a unique take in expressing innovative design in mixed-tenure housing schemes. The outside spaces play an important role that goes beyond a single functionality with their dimensions and geometries altering the perception of the shape of the building. This is further emphasised by the gold ribbed metal cladding. We believe that this, coupled with generously sized apartments with vistas over London, makes Dockley Road a great place to live.”
Managing director of developer Matching Green Ltd, James Allen, said: “I am delighted with the way that Studio Woodroffe Papa, in conjunction with our contractor Legendre, have developed the original design by Poggi Architecture into very successful development which is selling well. Feedback from our buyers is very positive and I am very hopeful that the design of the accommodation results in a real sense of community for all the occupiers in close proximity to the surrounding Spa Terminus lead regeneration of the railway arches into a vibrant artisan food production hub.”
