Work completes on "significant" £21m Hackney enabling development

Work has been completed on a £21m project in Hackney that has created a “significant” collection of buildings.

DLA Architecture has completed and handed over a new collection of buildings comprising community space and housing in Hackney.

The project was an enabling development between developer, Thornsett, The London Diocesan Fund (LDF) and The Parochial Church Council (PCC) of St John at Hackney.

Chris Levett, director at DLA Architecture, commented: “We had to be mindful that this is a very sensitive area of Hackney with a number of site constraints, such as its location within the Clapton Square Conservation Area.

“Yet, the client needed to maximise the number of new dwellings as well as wanting to create more engaging community spaces for their social benefits.

“We carefully designed a scheme to respond to the direct urban fabric of the locality, with hard and soft landscaped squares, open views of the Church and Tower and new passageways connecting to the high street.

“The position of the existing mature trees and the natural urban grain were key drivers along with a requirement for improved natural surveillance and maintaining key views through the site.”