London-based architecture firm HUT has successfully completed the transformation of a former car park site in Clapham into a contemporary residential development featuring over 30 apartments. The project, commissioned by Landhold Developments, involved revisiting and revising an existing planning permission for the brownfield site in south London, with a renewed focus on resident amenities and occupant wellbeing while enhancing connections to green spaces.
The residential complex, strategically located near Clapham South tube station and Clapham Common, is organized across three distinct blocks designated as A, B, and C. Each building features stepped massing ranging from one to four stories, accommodating apartments from one to three bedrooms. HUT's innovative façade redesign increased window space by 50 percent, ensuring that every primary living space offers views of green areas through either balconies or terrace gardens.
The architectural design draws visual inspiration from the historic listed bandstand at Clapham Common, incorporating decorative stonework and colonnades at entrances and balconies, complemented by detailed brickwork. All balustrades are constructed from powder-coated steel in Moss Green, directly referencing the bandstand's aesthetic. The buildings utilize grey buff brick in Flemish bond pattern, inspired by the surrounding Victorian and Edwardian architecture that characterizes the neighborhood.
A significant design challenge involved maximizing natural daylight while addressing privacy concerns from neighboring properties. HUT developed an innovative solution using hit-and-miss brickwork that partially screens up to 50 percent of windows in habitable spaces, providing excellent natural lighting while maintaining privacy. Unobscured windows are strategically aligned with circulation routes to promote front-to-back views, while screened sections protect private areas designated for sleeping and working.
The development includes extensive site greening designed in collaboration with landscape consultants Outerspace. Features include expanded planted areas, wildflower green roofs, and refined pathways with updated street furniture. Interior communal areas showcase neutral tones with timber paneling and off-white accents, creating welcoming shared spaces that encourage social interaction among residents.
Todd Courtney, associate at HUT Architecture, emphasized the project's practical approach to urban living: "This practical approach to creating privacy means that residents get a direct connection with the outside without feeling exposed, which is rare in a busy city environment. Throughout the design, we have incorporated as many opportunities for increasing biodiversity, and as the residents of Clapham South settle in, we'll see more urban gardens flourish on the balconies and terraces in what is now a quiet oasis, a complete transformation from its origins."
Matthew Ronson, planning and development director at Landhold Developments, praised the collaboration: "HUT was recommended to us by our project manager and quantity surveyor, for whom the practice had brought great attention to detail and quality design to another project. With amendment applications to a previous plan, HUT reconsidered and reimagined the design and the façade; this elevated the look and feel throughout, in turn providing additional value."
The project, which began construction in January 2023 and is scheduled for completion in February 2025, encompasses a gross internal floor area of 3,470 square meters. The development team included structural engineers AMTA ARG, mechanical and electrical consultants Harley Haddow, and main contractor Kuropatwa, with Johnson Associates serving as both quantity surveyor and project manager.
Environmental performance data from a representative two-bedroom, 77-square-meter unit in Block B demonstrates the development's sustainability features. The building achieves an airtightness rating of 3.21 m³/h.m² at 50Pa and maintains low energy consumption with hot water load at 1,947 kWh per year and space heating at 1,226 kWh per year. The overall operational energy consumption reaches 74 kWh per square meter annually, earning an Energy Performance Certificate rating of B (87), while annual CO2 emissions total 970 kgCO2eq per square meter.
