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mixed-use scheme for Waltham Forest
Wood Street Families and Homes Hub is located on the site of the former Wood Street Library, whose services have been relocated to a nearby purpose-built facility. The scheme positively enhances the site at the prominent junction between Wood Street and Forest Road, while delivering a new Families and Homes Hub for the London Borough of Waltham Forest and optimising the site for much needed, high-quality residential accommodation.
The development provides a small commercial unit at ground floor, a Families & Homes hub over ground and first floor, and 67 affordable new homes for local people (29 for social rent and 38 for shared ownership) and a resident’s garden on the ground floor, plus ample cycle storage. In response to Waltham Forest Council’s declaration of a climate emergency, the scheme endeavours to exceed conventional sustainability standards.
The building mass has been articulated as a series of kinked facets, with a fluted, scalloped top. The facets break up the lengths of façade which, with the light coloured brick, refined detail and contrasting coloured metalwork, soften the appearance of the building whilst celebrating its design quality. The design has the classical divisions of base, middle and top. The base reflects the materiality of the old library and frames the two storey base. Large window openings and entrances to the café, hub and homes, activate both the street and the corner. The middle is a well-proportioned 7-storey element with well-placed windows. The two storey top is set back by a fluted, scalloped form which is recognisable from afar as the final crowning.
Wood Street Families and Homes hub will provide council services and access to an innovative space to host some of the Council’s most important customer-facing families and housing services in a safe and welcoming setting. It is an adjoining two storey building entered from Forest Road with generous framed windows, making it a welcoming entrance, activating the street. The proposed scale and materiality of the building allow the hub its own distinct identity and helps to visually separate the corner building from Foundry Mews.
The design has been carefully considered to respect and enhance the townscape character and historic environment, responding to local context, scale and character. The openness to the north, with its mature trees, and the generous width of Wood Street to the west, led the decision on placing the majority of the scheme and its optimised height on these two sides. This enables the resident’s garden and the two storey Hub to be planned on the east and south sides, without overshadowing neighbours and their amenity. The building steps down to the South, to a 6-storey building, modulating its impact on the locally listed Woodside Primary School. These decisions were informed by community engagement, reviews with planners, DRPs, neighbours and client, leading to the final refinement of the design.
To reflect and preserve the historic and valued character of the area, the plaques from the existing locally listed library, engraved with the names of historically and locally significant people, have been re-made and integrated in the façade of the new building.
