Atlanta Court

This development of 20, one and two-bedroomed affordable homes for Brick by Brick is located on an under-used parking area the at the back of an existing local authority owned housing estate. Located in Thornton Heath, south London, the designs for this 4-storey building will bring new energy to the estate and improve the quality of the environment for both existing and new residents.

The existing 3 and 5 storey buildings are arranged in a L-shape around a south-facing shared lawn. The new building will form the third side to the shared space and provide an active facade looking onto it. The new block is arranged with a prominent entrance that faces the shared spaces and welcomes residents entering from either the shared space or the car park.

Drawing reference from the English tradition of early, turn-of-the-century social housing, the entrance and circulation areas are embellished with large, elongated arched openings of the common stair to the new block. The orientation of these openings and the fenestration to the new homes is carefully arranged to maximise passive surveillance over the common amenity areas whilst preserving privacy to the existing homes.

The semi-circular arch is a motif that is also referenced in the projecting curved balconies to the upper-floor homes. On the east elevation these are staggered so that the balconies to the lower floor flats aren’t over-shadowed by their upper floor neighbours. The design uses a palette of red brick and gold-coloured metalwork in reference to prominent local architecture in the Thornton Heath area.