We have been working with the London Borough of Camden and residents of the Regent's Park Estate to create high quality new homes for those families who are due to lose their current homes as a result of the High Speed 2 development.
"If all new council housing was designed to these standards, we’d be living in the New Jerusalem." reports Hugh Pearman, Editor of the RIBAJ.
Caudale comprises 8 dwellings, 3 townhouses and 5 apartments, alongside a new public garden.
Caudale takes its cue from the surrounding 1950s estate once described as “the ideal site for the careful planning of a great sweep of working-class flats, catering for the main bulk and backbone of our people” by Eric Cook in 1944 —then vice-chair of St Pancras Borough Labour Party—. The new buildings serve that same ambition.
The bookend form of the building responds to the rhythm of gables along the street and the exaggerated chequerboard composition of double height balconies is informed by the elevations on the surrounding late modern housing designed by Frederick Gibberd.
The homes are generous in size responding to the needs of their inhabitants. Principal rooms of the apartment dwellings are designed as an enfilade. Three 'rooms' of equal proportion –the kitchen-dining room, the living room and the balcony– are aligned and connect, though separated by glass screens. Balconies are inset to create the feel of an outdoor room.
