The development of Albion Wharf reinforces a growing new community on the south bank of the Thames, alongside the Foster studio between Battersea and Albert bridges. A mixed-use development, its ingredients are designed to promote a lively urban quarter where people can live, work and enjoy life in the heart of the city. The scheme comprises three separate buildings linked by new public spaces and routes. Shops, business spaces, cafs and leisure facilities are grouped at ground level, with parking below and residences, including low-cost housing, above.
The principal building on the waterfront is eleven storeys high. Its massing is designed to respect the heights of neighbouring buildings and to frame the view of the river from the opposite bank. Arcing back from the waters edge, the building forms an asymmetrical crescent to create a public space alongside the river walk. The facades are principally of glass, used in a range of translucency to create elevations that vary in appearance and sparkle according to prevailing light conditions and changing viewpoints. On the river facade, curved balconies with clear glass balustrades are accessed through full-height sliding glazed panels, which allow the apartments to open out onto the water. The strong horizontal line of the balconies reinforces a sense of visual order, allowing the clutter of inhabitation to proliferate but not dominate. The southern facade, in contrast, is veiled, clad in a fine net of aluminium rods, and pierced by recessed balconies and windows. The roof continues the buildings curving form, wrapping over and around in a single sweep.
A typical floor in this building contains twenty-six apartments, arranged around four service cores. In total there are 183 apartments, ranging from one to four bedrooms, and twelve duplex penthouses. Informing all of the apartment layouts is a sense of flexibility - sliding partitions allow spaces to be opened up or divided for different uses, while balconies offer an extension of living spaces and are deep enough for outdoor dining. All the apartments are air-conditioned, with independent central heating, and pre-wired for smart technology, enabling main services to be controlled remotely either on the Internet or by mobile phone.
Client:
Hutchison Whampoa Property
Consultants:
Cameron Taylor Bedford, Walker Management / Davis Langdon, Arup, Townshend Landscape Architects, Speirs & Major