Hargood Close in Essex, UK by Proctor and Matthews Architects

Article source: Proctor and Matthews  Architects 

Winner – RIBA National Award 2014, Winner – ‘Richard Fielden Award’ Housing Design Awards, Winner – Best Housing Project, Brick Awards 2013, Winner Galvanizing Awards, ‘Architecture in Detail’

Hargood Close is a supported housing scheme in Colchester, (for vulnerable people in need of emergency temporary accommodation) providing a mix of apartments including studios, one and two bedroom dwellings, as well as family houses. The brief called for a mix of dwelling types that would provide more flexible options to help staff respond to the differing living requirements of changing tenants. In addition the brief specified improved space for both onsite and visiting staff, communal space, meeting rooms and a secure children’s play area.

Image Courtesy © Proctor and Matthews Architects

• Architects: Proctor and Matthews  Architects
• Project: Hargood Close
• Location: Essex, UK
• Client: Family Mosaic
• Contract value: £3.4 Million
• Project status: Completed April 2014

Image Courtesy © Proctor and Matthews Architects

The new accommodation is arranged around two landscaped courtyards inspired by the many fine examples of 19th Century almshouses that can be found in this part of Essex. It was an important aspiration of the client group that the new accommodation should have a domestic character, and should not appear institutional. To this end the scale and public realm qualities of traditional almshouses were felt appropriate.

Image Courtesy © Proctor and Matthews Architects

The first entrance courtyard is landscaped with integrated parking and shared surface spaces. Entrance to the ground and first floor accommodation in the surrounding buildings can be gained directly from this space. Beyond this point, a larger landscaped space provides aspect to the family houses and further apartments. The family houses are clustered at this end of the site to eliminate overlooking of adjoining  properties and to present a garden to garden boundary. Both the access arrangements and accommodation frontage has been configured to provide a southerly aspect to living spaces, particularly for those apartments with only one principal aspect.

Image Courtesy © Proctor and Matthews Architects

The massing and built form of the new buildings is configured to complete the principal frontage. A perpendicular terrace sets up the ‘gabled’ gatehouse and organises the primary route into the site. The new dwellings are arranged in six building clusters formed of simple brick two storey pitched roof structures which create the new shared surface and landscaped courtyards. Provision for storage was a significant concern for those that manage these facilities and in this design it is incorporated as an integral part of the composition and architectural language. External brick clad storage units, located at ground floor level, form part of the rhythm and support for the cloisters and first floor decks that provide access and shelter to both the ground and first floor entrances.

The elevations are given further rhythm, scale and expression with the use of panels of highly textured brickwork. This takes the form of a projecting bond on some elevations while on the upper level of the cloisters the panels are formed of a perforated bond that provides a dappled light and the required levels of ventilation. This attention to detail brings a contemporary approach to the craft of brickwork. The domestic qualities of the 19th Century almshouses are in part due to their craftsmanship. The language adopted for this new development rejects historical pastiche, offering instead a 21st Century interpretation of this successful housing model.

Tags: Essex, UK

Categories: Apartments, Housing Development, Mixed use, Studio

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