Architects: Alison Brooks Architects
Area: 20,600 m²
Gross Internal Area: 18,784 m²
Residential Net Internal Area: 11,338 m²
Year: June 2023
Photography: Paul Riddle
Manufacturers: Brooksby, CCS Facades, GKE (entrance), Galliford Try, Grangewood Brickwork, Malcolm Hollis, MH Atlantic Contracts, O’Halloran & O’Brien (OHOB), SDS Architectural Glazing (Aluprof system)
Client: Related Argent
Structural Engineer: Whitby Wood
Services Engineer: Sweco
Acoustics: Sandy Brown
Interior Architect: Conran and Partners
Landscape Architecture: Adams & Sutherland Architects
MEP: PR Morson
City: London
Country: United Kingdom
One Ashley Road, a residential complex designed by Alison Brooks Architects in Tottenham Hale, London, transforms a post-industrial area into a vibrant neighborhood. Featuring two residential towers with 183 units, retail and office spaces, and communal gardens, it blends historical context with modern design. The project, completed in June 2023, incorporates energy-efficient systems, achieving BREEAM Very Good standards and exceeding carbon-saving targets.
Alison Brooks Architects’ One Ashley Road, the flagship project of the Tottenham Hale regeneration in London, is a dense live-work-shop community complex that embodies a strong sense of place.
One Ashley Road is the landmark project for client Related Argent, forming the gateway to the Tottenham Hale redevelopment, Heart of Hale. The scheme is part of a large-scale transformation of a post-industrial, traffic-dominated transport hub into a diverse and walkable neighborhood near the Walthamstow Wetlands and Lea Valley waterways. It features two residential towers that frame two sides of a courtyard block, housing 183 residential units above three levels of retail and incubator office spaces, along with roof gardens and a new public realm.
The design reflects the historic, existing, and emerging context, defining the northern edge of a new transport interchange and serving as a threshold to a dynamic new neighborhood. The scheme includes a new tree-filled civic square at the site’s ‘prow’ and a characterful pedestrian passage leading into the Berol Factory Courtyard.
As the ‘front door’ to the Heart of Hale masterplan, One Ashley Road’s animated silhouette and colonnaded base opposite the Tottenham Hale transport hub create a memorable new identity. The design references the area’s industrial heritage, especially the adjacent Berol House of the Eagle Pencil Company Factory, through a ‘carved’ and animated perimeter block. This is expressed in a distinctive, faceted form and pronounced verticality, with a rich orange brick outer skin and a shimmering metal inner skin inspired by the Berol Eagle Pencil’s graphic colors and hexagonal forms.
The scheme’s stepped massing creates a secluded residents’ podium garden and co-working space on the third floor and a south-facing communal roof garden on the seventh floor. Overlooking the new square, this mid-rise scale softens the transition between the tall elements and the public realm. Inside, faceted metal cassette panels reflect light into the block’s interior, creating a shimmering veil of light.
One Ashley Road’s designs addresses significant underground constraints with ingenuity and sculptural intent. The presence of two Victoria Line tunnels through the plot required strategic tower placement and careful piling to manage loading, acoustic, and vibration requirements from the London Underground infrastructure. This resulted in a stepped-base massing block, which recesses to the north to offer communal green terraces. These spaces provide residents with air, light, and panoramic views, integrating the built environment with the natural landscape.
The gardens and hexagonal terrace weave green space throughout the project, creating communal destinations for residents to gather, socialize, and relax in various quiet, secluded locations.
One Ashley Road achieves BREEAM Very Good as it addresses both the Tottenham Green Grid (Policy AAP9; TAAP) and the Council’s Open Spaces Strategy. The development’s operational carbon savings exceed the Greater London Authority’s targets by 48%. This high environmental performance is achieved through a connection to a District Energy Network (DEN), solar photovoltaic panels, smart metering, and energy management software for efficient energy monitoring and optimization.
The complex incorporates passive design features and a ‘fabric first’ strategy to reduce energy demand, with a highly insulated building envelope to achieve resource efficiency and lower operational costs.
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Project Location
Address: 1 Ashley Road, London N17 9QW, United Kingdom
Location is for general reference and may represent a city or country, not necessarily a precise address.
