Brentford Lock West

Location: Hounslow, London
Client: Waterside Places
Date: 2013 - 2018
Value: £50m
Awards: RIBA National Award –2019 RIBA London Regional Award –2019 RIBA London Regional Award –2018 New London Architecture Award –Shortlist 2019 Inside Housing Development Award –2018 The Sunday Times British Homes Award 2018 –Apartment Development of the Year The Sunday Times British Homes Award 2018 –Development of the Year The Sunday Times British Homes Award 2018 –Homebuilder of the Year In-house Customer Satisfaction Gold Award –2018 RIBA Neave Brown Award –Shortlist 2019 AJ Architecture Awards –Shortlist 2019 Brick Award –Finalist 2018 Housing Design Award –Finalist 2015

We have designed new housing as part of a large regeneration project on a brownfield site on the Grand Union Canal in west London. The scheme comprises 157 homes over 2 plots, Block E and Block F (Keelson Gardens), that take inspiration from their context and the warehouses that previously occupied the site.

Six pavilion buildings have distinct saw-tooth roofs that make reference to the neighbouring wharf architecture. The townhouses with their garden walls and porches reference the nearby conservation area.

The pavilion type gives rise to a very rational layout, achieving 82% net to gross. Cores serves 4 dual aspect flats per floor, in a quadrant arrangement. Town houses and inhabited bridges link the pavilions, and enclose a resident courtyard garden.

We have taken a simple, yet robust attitude towards detailing, using a limited palette of materials – principally facing brickwork together with pre-cast concrete, painted metalwork, natural stained timber, and render, to modulate the building facades and provide character.

Drone footage update February 2018

Building works for Phase 2 of Brentford Lock West are well underway in this drone footage.

Phase 2 has now completed as of Winter 2018.

Footage courtesy of McAleer & Rushe.

Contractor McAleer & Rushe

Structural Engineer Expedition

Environmental / M&E Engineer Eight Associates / Thornton Reynolds

Quantity Surveyor Tower8

Landscape Architect Camlins

Planning Consultant Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design

Brentford Lock West shortlisted for the Architects' Journal Architecture Awards Project Update

Brentford Lock West has been shortlisted for AJ Architecture Awards in the Housing Project category.

In addition to stand-out design, the judges will consider each project in detail – such as how it has met or exceeded the brief, how it has promoted client or community engagement, and how it has excelled in the use of space or sense of place.

The winners will be revealed at an exclusive gala dinner.
September 2019
Brentford Lock West Keelson Gardens shortlisted for the RIBA Neave Brown Award for Housing Project Update

Brentford Lock West Keelson Gardens has been shortlisted for the RIBA's Neave Brown Award for Housing.

This is the first year that the award has been given and is named in honour of the late Neave Brown (1929 – 2018). Neave Brown was a socially-motivated, modernist architect who was awarded the UK’s highest honour for architecture, the Royal Gold Medal for Architecture.

Brentford Lock West consists of the award-winning Block E and Block F (Keelson Gardens) and creates a sustainable people centred community, promoting walking and cycling through the urban form and a network of shared surface streets. A rich variety of public spaces are all designed to promote social interaction while providing quiet places for residents to relax and reconnect with nature.

RIBA judges commented that 'overall, this is a high quality work of architecture, landscaping and residential environment achieved for a modest budget.'

Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in October.
July 2019
Brentford Lock West wins an RIBA National Award 2019 Project Update

Our project at Brentford Lock West has won an RIBA National Award.

The judges commented that 'Internally, the flats are well planned, and the arrangement of linked pavilions enables every flat to have dual aspect and enjoy a pleasant quality of natural light...The entrance hall to each townhouse provides an unusually generous and versatile space...Overall, this is a high quality work of architecture, landscaping and residential environment achieved for a modest budget.'

The RIBA National Awards are given to buildings across the UK recognised as significant contributions to architecture.
June 2019
Habitation Research News

We are delighted to feature in The B1M's powerful new documentary 'Habitation' that explores innovative solutions to the housing crisis facing one of the world’s largest cities.

Developed in association with Graphisoft, the film investigates our work alongside London-based architecture practices Alma-nac and Waugh Thistleton.

From 'urban dentistry' to embracing offsite approaches such as cross-laminated timber (CLT), the documentary demonstrates how the intensity of a housing crisis in a major city can, in fact, drive the development of innovative schemes that respond to their physical and economic contexts in a compelling way.
June 2019 View video
Regent's Park Infill Sites and Brentford Lock West Phase 2 shortlisted for the New London Architecture Awards 2019 Project Update

Our Regent's Park Infill Sites and Brentford Lock West Phase 2 schemes have been shortlisted for the New London Architecture Awards 2019 in the Housing Category.

Both projects will appear in the New London Architecture exhibition and publication showcasing the capital’s very best new architecture, planning and development as selected by an international jury .

Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in London in July.

June 2019
Brentford Lock West Phase 2 wins at the 2019 RIBA London Regional Awards Project Update

Brentford Lock West Phase 2 has won a 2019 RIBA London Award.

Brentford Lock West Phase 2, consisting of the multi-award winning Block E and newly completed Block F, completed at the end of 2018. The scheme comprises 157 homes that take inspiration from their context and the warehouses that previously occupied the site to create a vibrant, diverse neighbourhood.
May 2019
Regent's Park Infill Sites and Brentford Lock West Phase 2 shortlisted for RIBA London Regional Awards 2019 Project Update

We're delighted that both our Regent's Park Infill Sites and Brentford Lock West Phase 2 projects have been shortlisted for the RIBA London Regional Awards 2019.

Regent's Park Infill Sites creates new high quality homes for local residents displaced by the path of HS2; Brentford Lock West Phase 2 consists of two blocks delivered in phases and responds sensitively to the surrounding wharf architecture.

The shortlisted schemes, which were chosen from 200 entries, will be visited by a jury throughout March and April with the winners announced at an awards ceremony at the RIBA towards the end of May.
March 2019
Brentford Lock West Block E wins at the Inside Housing Development Awards 2018 Project Update

We're delighted to announce that our Block E scheme at Brentford Lock West has won the 2018 Inside Housing Development Award for Design Quality.

The project was also a finalist in the Best Residential Development (under 70 homes) and Market Sale Development of the year categories.
November 2018 View Project
Brentford Lock West Block E wins thrice at British Homes Awards 2018 Project Update

Brentford Lock West Block E project has won Development of the Year (up to 100 homes) and Apartment Development of the Year at The Sunday Times British Homes Awards 2018. Our client also received the Judges Award for Homebuilder of the Year for this project.

Block E provides 42 high-quality homes within a set of pavilion buildings to create a vibrant canal-side residential community with shared streets, promoting local interaction and encouraging walking and cycling.
September 2018 View Project
Brick Awards 2018 shortlisting for Brentford Lock West Block E Project Update

A shortlisting at the Brick Awards 2018 adds to the list of recent accolades for our Brentford Lock West Block E project. Our Phase 2 scheme uses brick to create a building of mass and presence and has been recognised for an award in the Large Housing Development category.

Taking a simple yet robust attitude towards materials and detailing, we selected an earthy palette of brick that provides depth and character as well as complementing both the historic setting and materials from Phase 1 of the development.

The Brick Awards are run by the Brick Development Association and showcases the very best examples of clay brick in the UK's built environment. Results will be announced at an Awards ceremony on the 8th of November 2018.
August 2018 View Shortlist
Brentford Lock West Block E wins at the RIBA London Regional Awards 2018 Project Update

Brentford Lock West Block E scheme has won a RIBA London Regional Award 2018. Drawing inspiration from the local environment, our ambition was to create a vibrant canal-side residential community.

We designed pavilion buildings with distinct saw-tooth roof forms that enhance the skyline and bring light into the upper floors. Deep façades create versatile outdoor loggias and homes have landscaped courtyards that act as a threshold to the street. Our scheme forms part of the second phase of a three phase development project beside the Grand Union Canal, which has been awarded a Customer Satisfaction Gold Award. Read more about our project here.
May 2018 View all RIBA winners
Brentford Lock West Block E shortlisted for a RIBA London Regional Award 2018 Project Update

Our Brentford Lock West Block E scheme has been shortlisted for a RIBA London Award 2018.

As part of the second phase of a three-phase regeneration on Grand Union Canal, our completed Block E scheme provides 42 high quality dual aspect homes within pavilion buildings, complementing the neighbouring wharf architecture and exploring ideas of spatial generosity and robust durable urban form.

All shortlisted buildings will now be assessed by a regional jury with the winning buildings announced at an awards ceremony on Tuesday 15 May.
March 2018 View all shortlisted schemes