Adjaye Associates is among a team of high-profile architects tasked with generating ideas for the overhaul of Lancaster West Estate, an area of London containing the ruined Grenfell Tower, tragically destroyed by fire in 2017.
The team, comprising Adjaye Associates, Cullinan Studio, Levitt Bernstein, Maccreanor Lavington, Murray John Architects and Penoyre & Prasad, will work with the local community for the housing estate’s refurbishment to produce “resident-led” ideas for the area.
As well as coordinating with the Lancaster West Residents' Association, the design team will work with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and central government. According to The Architects' Journal, both local and central government have committed £15 million each to the refurbishment of the 1960s estate, promising “a model estate where the community can be proud to live.”
The ideas team will focus on clusters of apartments to the immediate north and south of Grenfell Tower. The tower site itself will not be included, in anticipation that it will host a memorial to the tragic fire.
As part of the process, the Lancaster West Residents’ Association has published a website outlining the aims and obligations for the design agenda. A landscaping strategy for the area thus far includes enhanced gateways to estates, pedestrianized, bike-friendly streets, and improved play spaces.
Demolition of existing homes has been ruled out, as has a rent-rise above the average rate for the surrounding Borough. Ideas generated in response to residents’ concerns include enhancing level access to apartments, improved ventilation and insulation, and the additions of balconies to top floor apartments.
Work is expected to begin on-site in the summer of 2019, although no appointments have been made on a team to fulfill the design brief.
News via: The Architects' Journal and Lancaster West Residents’ Association
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