Pepys Estate

Character

The site’s unique qualities derive from the sequence of its four open spaces, its relationship with the River and the juxtaposing of the new housing with a number of important historic buildings. Several mature London plane trees have been retained to form important landmarks, along with new planting, and give character to the open spaces.

The architects responded to the site’s character and to residents’ wishes to retain the open spaces by adopting the previous pattern of separate blocks, with the exceptions of two terraces of three storey houses at Dolben Court, built outside original footprints and used to close the perimeter blocks.

Roads, parking and pedestrianisation

With the nearest underground station over 1 km away, a relatively high level of car parking (60%) has been allowed, which seems adequate. Additional un-demarcated parking is possible alongside the small front gardens and does not adversely affect the quality of the street scene.

All parking is in front of buildings so is overlooked at all times, and carefully located trees and shrubs divide parking areas into small pockets. A variety of surfaces avoids the appearance of a car park. The main parking area in the centre of Phase 1 is about one metre below the level of the adjacent gardens, effectively reducing its visual impact.

Spaces between buildings incorporate home zone principles, with traffic calmed and directed by bollards, different levels and paving finishes. Lewisham Council has adopted all parking and open spaces and currently there is no residents’ parking scheme.

Except for one road and pavement access, the scheme is separated from the local street system by a park and by 1960s blocks, limiting the possibilities for linking the circulation to the existing network, but the restoration of ground level circulation within the scheme has created direct connections across the site and between the open spaces and the riverside walk.

Design and Construction

To maintain a visual connection between Aragon Gardens and the river, as English Heritage insisted, the concrete framed Phase 2 block was raised on piloti, a feature reminiscent of the 1960s estate. The piloti are two storeys high with flank walls incorporating windows and entrance areas to allow some surveillance of the space beneath, which in the old blocks had presented security problems.

Phase 1 buildings are timber frame construction with brick cladding, which reflects the old estate, but the additional use of coloured render, glazing panels and untreated timber boarding produces variety and informality. The use of MMC produced savings in embodied energy and acoustic standards claimed to be 10% above requirements. Lifts and steel balconies are braced back to the timber structure which, at a height of five storeys, is widely considered to be near to the limits of timber technology as used in the UK.

The 1960s flats’ problematic long internal corridors have been replaced by lifts and staircases with a maximum of three flats on each landing. Careful glazing of lift and stairwells, along with light steel staircases gives plenty of daylight and illuminates external spaces at night, thus avoiding hiding places and improving security. All entrance doors have adjacent glazed sound and fire resistant panels so light penetrates to the landings giving an impression of lightness in spite of the depth of some units.

Residents’ stated appreciation of generous floorspace in the old estate has been addressed in the new scheme. All except the smallest units have windows on both sides of the block and private external space, either a ground level garden or a usable balcony. Where the fronts of ground floor units face onto a public way, small front gardens act as a buffer between public and private realms. All dwellings incorporate storage cupboards capable of accommodating prams and bicycles.

Environment and Community

Although the intention was to resettle as many former tenants as possible, inevitably the process of decanting during construction has resulted in some choosing to remain elsewhere.

With a mix of 1, 2 and 3 bedroom flats and 4 bedroom houses, and tenure split between 70% social rented and 30% shared ownership, all homes share the same plans and external appearance irrespective of tenure. The difficulty of mixing rented and shared ownership is addressed by locating tenures on the same staircase and alternating them throughout the blocks, with one terrace of houses rented and the other shared ownership.

There is a children’s playground in Pepys Park, and schools and a shopping parade nearby. Funding is available for an additional central playground in Dolben Court but is awaiting the results of consultation with neighbouring residents.