Murray House, Westminster
Type affordable residential and commercial
Size 41 residential units, 500 sq. m. (5400 sq. ft.) commercial
Client Circle Anglia
Status under construction
Scheme description
Murray House, located close to Victoria Street in the heart of Westminster, contains a range of residential tenures. Central to the brief are 19 intermediate-rent flats for the United Women’s’ Housing Association, a long- established tenant community. Shared ownership flats are located on the upper set- back floor within the core. Family flats for social rent are located in a second residential core accessed through a new courtyard. Commercial space in the basement has a glazed corner entrance at ground floor.
The building form is expressed as an outer brickwork facade with an inner ‘layer’ of glazing and small balconies. The glazing is angled to give lengthened views from the flats within the narrow streetscape. Westminster Planning guidelines have been closely followed and materials of brick, metal and stone are proposed. The articulation of the façade increases the perception of width to the narrow streets and the sense of space within the city.
The scheme has recently been shortlisted in the project category of the Housing Design Awards 2008 www.designforhomes.org/hda
