Dezeen Magazine

Slender apartment block by Amin Taha Architects features a timber structure and wicker balconies

Wicker balconies project from the brick facade of this apartment block in north London, which was designed by Amin Taha Architects with a cross-laminated timber structure.

The six-storey gabled block was designed by London-based Amin Taha Architects to slot between a pair of detached brick buildings in Barretts Grove, Stoke Newington, hosting six apartments.

Barretts Grove by Amin Taha Architects

A slender rectilinear volume is affixed to the rear of the street-facing gabled block. Together they house three two-bedroom flats, two three-bedroom flats set over two floors and a studio apartment.

Barretts Grove by Amin Taha Architects

The architects chose to give the building a structure of cross-laminated timber (CLT) – a type of engineered wood consisting layers of laminated timber sections, which offers a more sustainable alternative to concrete and steel.

But this framework is enveloped by a facade of perforated brickwork to match neighbouring buildings.

Barretts Grove by Amin Taha Architects

"If the overall building form is intended to help complete the parade, it and its detailing is also architectonically driven by a choice of superstructure suited to residential use then developed to a smaller domestic and tactile scale," said the architects.

"The double-stacked and open-bond of brickwork states the envelope is not load bearing, but a screen enveloping the whole building including the roof," they added.

Barretts Grove by Amin Taha Architects

The street-facing facade is punctured by large windows with deep bronzed frames.

Wicker-covered balconies project from every other window to provide residents with private outdoor space.

Barretts Grove by Amin Taha Architects

Inside, elements of both the CLT and brick structures are left exposed. The CLT panels are varnished and joined by timber seats, shelving units, doors and stairs.

Barretts Grove by Amin Taha Architects

"The ability of the CLT to serve as structure and finish removed the need for plaster-boarded walls, suspended ceilings, cornices, skirtings, tiling and paint; reducing by 15 per cent the embodied carbon of the building, its construction cost and time on site," explained the architects.

Barretts Grove by Amin Taha Architects

"Timber also has inherently more robust and is perhaps a better and warmer domestic aesthetic," they added.

Barretts Grove by Amin Taha Architects

New types of engineered timber – including CLT – are considerably stronger than their regular wood counterparts and are allowing architects to build bigger and higher than ever.

Barretts Grove by Amin Taha Architects

In 2015, Hawkins\Brown completed a 33-metre-high apartment block in east London, which the studio claims is tallest structural cross-laminated timber building in Europe.

Other firms are now vying for the title, and earlier this summer Waugh Thistleton topped out the world's largest cross-laminated timber structure – also in east London.

Barretts Grove by Amin Taha Architects

Elsewhere, building regulations are being updated to permit wooden buildings of new heights. In January 2016, Australia updated its building regulations to allow timber-framed structures of up to eight storeys in height for the first time.

Photography is by Tim Soar.


Project credits:

Architect: Groupwork, Dale Elliott, Sam Douek, Nerissa Yeung, Amin Taha
Client: Cobstar Developments
Structural engineer: Webb Yates
M&E consultant: Syntegra
Fire engineering: Optimise
Acoustic engineering: Syntegra
Project manager: Groupwork
CDM coordinator: Syntegra
Building inspector: MLM
Main contractor: Ecore Construction

Barretts Grove by Amin Taha Architects
Site plan - click for larger image
Barretts Grove by Amin Taha Architects
Basement floor plan - click for larger image
Barretts Grove by Amin Taha Architects
Ground floor plan - click for larger image
Barretts Grove by Amin Taha Architects
First floor plan - click for larger image
Barretts Grove by Amin Taha Architects
Second floor plan - click for larger image
Barretts Grove by Amin Taha Architects
Third floor plan - click for larger image
Barretts Grove by Amin Taha Architects
Fourth floor plan - click for larger image
Barretts Grove by Amin Taha Architects
Fourth floor plan with mezzanine - click for larger image
Barretts Grove by Amin Taha Architects
Section one - click for larger image
Barretts Grove by Amin Taha Architects
Section two - click for larger image