This highly contextualised residential-led block is a unique addition to London’s creative heartland, and part of an innovative development from Peabody and Hill. Our design won a competition mandated by the London Legacy Development Corporation to unlock the potential of an important waterside location next to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The freestanding block comprises 16 apartments and a ground-floor restaurant that spills out onto a new public square.
Lanterna is the gateway building to Fish Island Village, a six-acre development designed in a hugely successful collaboration between LGA, Stirling Prize-winner Haworth Tompkins and Pitman Tozer. The scheme opens access to a stretch of canal previously closed to the public, and creates a vibrant new residential, cultural and commercial quarter in east London. Replacing disused warehouses and a large area of hard standing, the development transforms the physical, environmental, social and economic qualities of Fish Island. In an innovative move, almost Fish Island Village’s entire ground floor – spanning 11 buildings – is given over to high-specification affordable workspaces for designers and creative businesses. Lanterna’s own café-bar-restaurant identifies the building as the social heart of Fish Island Village.
The development’s crowning jewel, Lanterna’s unique concrete-clad elevations strengthen Fish Island’s sense of place. At the same time as making a bold creative statement, great care was taken to integrate the building with its surroundings. A deep colonnade knits it into the new public square, allowing the restaurant to spill out into the piazza, and encouraging the building and the square’s shared identity as a meeting place. In addition, the building apron will segue seamlessly into a planned new foot and cycle bridge. Scale, massing, materials and colours were chosen to mediate between neighbouring buildings on the development, and the nearby Omega Wharf.
During the concept design stage, our visits to the area yielded inspiration from the vibrant graffiti dominating the streetscape. We created a dramatic herringbone-pattern design that wraps around the frame of the building, weaving in and out of reveals like the street art that influenced it. The pattern continues across balcony balustrades in a scaled-up format, adding to the building’s visual impact. The herringbone pattern subtly references the name of the area, the development and local street names.
Sustainabilty credentials include Lanterna‘s classification as BREEAM Very Good, and Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4. Lanterna connects to the Olympic Park Energy Centre to use zero carbon renewable energy sources for electricity and hot water. The building fabric is super-insulated, and there are photovoltaic panels on the roof.
Lanterna won the 2018 First Time Buyers Readers’ Award and was shortlisted in the 2019 RIBA Awards, 2019 Housing Design Awards, 2018 Planning Awards and the 2017 Sunday Times British Homes Awards.
Material Used :
1. Cornish Concrete Products Ltd: exposed black basalt aggregate precast concrete cladding panels
2. Ideal Combi: Futura/ Futura+ anodized aluminium/ timber composite windows
3. Schindler: passenger lift
4. Style Architectural Glazing Ltd: curtain-walling
5. Neos Protect Lts: Steel doors
6. Triangle Fire Systems: Sprinkler installation
7. Stanta: Steel framing system
8. Symphony: kitchens
9. Stairmaster: concrete stair permanent formwork
