The Colville Estate Masterplan is an expansive mixed-use estate renewal project that includes 925 homes, a range of civic amenities and a comprehensive public realm and landscape strategy that connects it to the wider urban area. First appointed via competition in 2009, we have collaborated with Hackney Council and the local community for over a decade to produce a shared neighbourhood vision which is currently being strategically phased over an estimated 20 year period.
The Colville Estate has a strong community spirit with a vocal and engaged resident group who were eager to bring about positive, lasting change to the area they live in. Our masterplanning approach has therefore been formed and characterised by working closely with residents and the wider community from the beginning of the project and throughout each phase to develop a viable scheme with strong local support.
Through a sustained engagement programme, we collaboratively developed a series of masterplan principles which included the creation of medium-rise replacement council homes for residents to reflect existing dwellings and shared and private outdoor spaces. Due to the creation of a Residents Charter and Design Code at planning stage, design intent and quality has been locked into each masterplan phase. An intelligent approach to financial cross subsidy to fund the creation of medium-rise council homes has played a crucial part in the formation and viability of the project resulting in market-sale flats provided at Hoxton Press, the third phase of the masterplan.
A core aim for the design was to re-orientate the inward-looking estate to become more public-facing and connected to its context, linking to Regent’s Canal to the north and Shoreditch Park to the south. A new street network achieves this ambition, with a reinstated, historic east-west route and north-south pathways which simultaneously provides a clear logic for the placement of residential blocks.
To create a strong neighbourhood identity and sense of place, the revised Colville Estate is formed of an ensemble of buildings which shift in type, scale and form with different materials and civic uses mixed throughout and taller built elements placed at key boundaries to define key spaces. Each building is designed to be active on every side to animate streets and create a feeling of safety. Native planting extends along the length of these routes to visually and ecologically enhance the landscape.
The latest phase of the Colville Estate Masterplan, Colville Street (Phase 2c) is planned to reach completion in 2024.