The grouping and massing of the new housing blocks negotiate between the contrasting urban conditions of the post-war estate and the Victorian street

Ecological ‘Brick K’ facing brick harmonises with neighbouring buildings but has its own distinct voice

Taylor & Chatto and Wilmott Courts form a pair of schemes, commissioned by Hackney Council, for new mixed tenure housing along with public realm and landscape improvements on infill sites on the edge of the postwar Frampton Park Estate.

Taylor & Chatto Courts consist of three 5-storey villas similar in area to the existing villas opposite. The middle one is situated symmetrically between two existing linear blocks of flats, allowing visual and physical connections between the new courtyard that the scheme creates and the street. Wilmott Court consists of a 5-storey palazzo, planned around a central volume and occupies a whole urban block. This simple building is distinguished by the addition of a loggia combining gallery access and amenity space, orientated towards the landscape.

Taylor, Chatto & Wilmott courts are located amidst a complex urban accretion fairly typical of London, where postwar housing estate meets 15th century lane. In this setting our ambition was to make a series of buildings that would carefully negotiate these layers, introducing coherence whilst adopting an unfamiliar presence.

This idea materialises with our choice of Vandemoortel brick (Nature7 Brick K), whose red hue harmonises with neighbouring buildings but has its own distinct voice. Set alongside a colour matched mortar, from a distance the brickwork allows the buildings’ formal qualities to be seen. Up close its unusual size, proportion and subtly uneven surface, combined with the fact that it is laid in ‘wild bond’, gives the wall a visceral, crafted quality.

See below the ecological benefit we get with this project by using the ecological Brick7 format: