Bordering the St Ann’s Conservation Area, our first phase of the St Ann’s Masterplan will begin the transformation of a former hospital site in North-East London into a landscape-led, mixed-use, mixed-tenure neighbourhood combining new homes and seven refurbished Victorian hospital buildings.
Our wider masterplan and first phase draws upon and celebrates the 1920’s Peace Garden and retained hospital buildings which sit within this landscape at the heart of the site, opening up views and connections through the placement of pedestrian streets and contemporary courtyard mansion blocks which frame this transformed civic space. Buildings rise gently in height towards the garden, with a 9-storey apartment building framing a key route marked by a protected tree – a veteran Spotted Thorn.
These moments of height act as important wayfinding devices throughout the scheme towards a sequence of open public spaces that lead to a new pedestrian/cycle link in the south-west corner. Mediating between the Peace Garden and lower-rise edges, these buildings work together to create semi-private gardens and define a series of east-west pedestrian streets which link into the garden. Along these routes, north-south breaks in the building line allow more daylight into the courtyards and establish long views through the public realm.
In response to local housing need, an older adults building containing Sheltered Women’s Housing and LGBTQ+ accommodation shares the most northern courtyard, featuring spacious wintergardens which overlook the internal courtyards. At ground floor, a communal resident’s lounge and café addresses the new site entrance and activates a new pedestrian-friendly route.
The simple and elegant architectural character of these contemporary courtyard mansion blocks draws influence from the retained heritage buildings and nearby homes, with facades designed to mirror the verticality of window proportions, chimneys, and period features. Recessed dual-aspect balconies carve out open corners on all sides of the buildings, while semi-recessed paired balconies give rhythm and articulation to the longer lengths of facades fronting the Peace Garden.
Along the northern boundary, a line of terraced housing addresses a new entrance in the historic boundary wall. These homes continue along the western boundary, their scale kept intentionally low to respect the adjacent housing. These elements repeat in longer lengths, subtly altering the character of the street as they continue along this route towards a refurbished Victorian watertower and into the new neighbourhood.