Sensitive and ephemeral regeneration. Ebury Edge by Jan Kattein Architects
08/03/2022.
[LON] UK
metalocus, ÁNGELA MARTÍNEZ
metalocus, ÁNGELA MARTÍNEZ
Ebury Edge is a temporary project developed by Jan Kattein Architects. It is located in London, United Kingdom. Within the central Westminster district and in the vicinity of Victoria Station.
The regeneration program currently being developed by the Westminster City Council served as an incentive to Jan Kattein Architects to propose this building. Through its striking aesthetic composition, with colorful roof tiles and a light luminous tower, new ephemeral public and community spaces are established.
The regeneration program currently being developed by the Westminster City Council served as an incentive to Jan Kattein Architects to propose this building. Through its striking aesthetic composition, with colorful roof tiles and a light luminous tower, new ephemeral public and community spaces are established.
Ebury Edge by Jan Kattein Architects. Photograph by Diane Auckland.
Ebury Edge by Jan Kattein Architects. Photograph by Diane Auckland.
Ebury Edge by Jan Kattein Architects. Photograph by Jan Kattein Architects.
Ebury Edge by Jan Kattein Architects. Photograph by Jan Kattein Architects.
Ebury Edge by Jan Kattein Architects. Photograph by Diane Auckland.
Ebury Edge by Jan Kattein Architects. Photograph by Diane Auckland.
Ebury Edge by Jan Kattein Architects. Photograph by Jan Kattein Architects.
Ebury Edge by Jan Kattein Architects. Photograph by Jan Kattein Architects.
Ebury Edge by Jan Kattein Architects. Photograph by Jan Kattein Architects.
Ebury Edge by Jan Kattein Architects. Photograph by Jan Kattein Architects.
Ebury Edge by Jan Kattein Architects. Photograph by Diane Auckland.
Ebury Edge by Jan Kattein Architects. Photograph by Diane Auckland.
Ebury Edge by Jan Kattein Architects. Photograph by Diane Auckland.
Ebury Edge by Jan Kattein Architects. Photograph by Diane Auckland.
Ebury Edge by Jan Kattein Architects. Photograph by Diane Auckland.
Ebury Edge by Jan Kattein Architects. Photograph by Diane Auckland.
Ebury Edge by Jan Kattein Architects. Photograph by Diane Auckland.
Ebury Edge by Jan Kattein Architects. Photograph by Jan Kattein Architects.
Ground floor plan. Ebury Edge by Jan Kattein Architects.
First floor plan. Ebury Edge by Jan Kattein Architects.
Section. Ebury Edge by Jan Kattein Architects.
East and West elevations. Ebury Edge by Jan Kattein Architects.
North and South elevations. Ebury Edge by Jan Kattein Architects.
Street axonometry. Ebury Edge by Jan Kattein Architects.
The ingenious and metaphorical essence of Ebury Edge, designed by Jan Kattein Architects, lies in its being a project that symbolises a process of urban transition. It not only evokes it, but accompanies it in all phases of the process. It thus constitutes a new key point in Westminster's urban plan.
The spaces are conceived to enhance local small businesses and enterprises. On the ground floor the programme is oriented towards retail and commercial space, while the upper level houses multiple workspaces. By means of removable light wooden panels, its structure is designed with sustainability in mind. The aim is to reduce assembly energy and transport capacity as much as possible. In addition, it is foreseen that it will be temporary.
The spaces are conceived to enhance local small businesses and enterprises. On the ground floor the programme is oriented towards retail and commercial space, while the upper level houses multiple workspaces. By means of removable light wooden panels, its structure is designed with sustainability in mind. The aim is to reduce assembly energy and transport capacity as much as possible. In addition, it is foreseen that it will be temporary.
Description of project by Jan Kattein Architects
Ebury Edge is a temporary development by Westminster City Council, combining community space, a café, affordable work and retail spaces. Together, they give the Ebury Bridge Estate a lively new street presence and shelter a shared courtyard at the rear, offering a continuous focal point for residents throughout its phased re-development.
Westminster City Council is undertaking its most ambitious housing and regeneration programme of this time. Pivotal to the plan is the Council’s redevelopment of the Ebury Bridge Estate in Pimlico, situated a few minutes from Victoria Station and adjacent to Chelsea Barracks. Regeneration of the estate will provide 781 mixed tenure homes, including full re-provision of existing social housing, much needed family-sized units, and a right to return for all residents.
Ebury Edge reflects the City Council's dedication to creating a new exemplar for estate regeneration through a sensitivity not just to the end goals, but also the process of regeneration. Designed by Jan Kattein Architects with ARUP, two storeys of workspace units are arranged in a colourful timber-clad terrace along Ebury Bridge Road. Together with the frontage of the cafe, housed together with a community hall in a distinct, single storey structure, these work to create an active edge to the Estate through its transition.
Workspaces are sized to provide an affordable foothold for small local businesses, with generous shop fronts to support retail activity at ground level. A basic fit out leaves them adaptable to the individual needs of a broad range of tenants while providing them with an operational framework to grow and inform the long term retail strategy for the site.
The building's colourful presence, including a high-level floodlit tower, reflects residents' desire to create an “invitation” into the Estate. Hand tinted cedar shingles and feather-edge cladding retain the texture of timber grain, while their tones will shift and weather over the building's short lifespan. Community gardening is embedded at the heart of the scheme with a high level planting deck and scaffold 'trellis' which overspan the development.
The lightweight timber structure was designed to minimise embodied energy and foundations, and can be dismantled into its constituent panels and re-assembled elsewhere once the site comes forward for long term development in around 4 years.
Careful work by JKA and workspace operators Meanwhile Space in establishing the spatial brief and engagement with local businesses helped the development to reach full occupation occupied just weeks after opening in winter 2020/21. Seven small retail businesses now have their first shop fronts, while ten other enterprises are getting a start in units upstairs and to the rear. Early market engagement helped to secure Fat Macy’s, an organisation which provides catering training for homeless people, as anchor tenant for the café., while the community space is providing a vital resource for childcare and well-being activities run by local groups.
As pandemic restrictions lift in spring 2021, the Ebury Edge is providing invaluable social spaces for residents to meet safely outdoors, as well as the infrastructure for local businesses to begin the process of economic recovery. In 2021, the project was awarded the NLA’s Community Prize.
More information
Architects
Design team
Collaborators
Client
Builder
H A Marks Ltd.
Budget
€ 2,407,800.
Dates
Winter 2020-2021, fully opened April, 2021.
Location
Edgson House, 43 Ebury Bridge Rd, London SW1W 8DX, UK.
Photography
Jan Kattein Architects. Diane Auckland | Fotohaus Ltd.
Jan Kattein. Jan Kattein Architects
Jan Kattein Architects is a London-based practice founded in 2004 with a 15 year track record of innovative public-facing projects. They understand architecture as a tool to engage and empower communities. Their method stimulates innovative design, and always seeks to add benefits through education, economic growth, cultural activity or greater community coherence.
They believe that an integrated approach is needed for any place to fulfil its potential. This conviction has led them to work across sectors, including regeneration, housing, economic development, education, public space and planning. In each field, their projects are united by their public purpose.
They work predominantly on civic projects. Their clients include 16 local authorities in London, HS2, British Land, Lendlease, large housing providers including Peabody and Notting Hill Genesis as well as charities, schools and community groups. Their approach has been recognised by numerous national and international design awards including the Community Prize at the NLA Awards, the RIBAJ McEwen Award and the Civic Trust Awards.
For them, sustainability is more than just a technological challenge. By engaging a broad community in frank and open conversation from the outset of a project, they can work to ensure that their proposals are needed, useful and proportionate.
Throughout design, procurement and delivery, we look for opportunities to re-activate existing spaces, use reclaimed or surplus materials and tap into local supply networks. Looking ahead, they are researching how the spaces they design and the strategies they develop can accommodate change, through flexible design strategies to demountable construction techniques. Sustainability must be a shared pursuit, and they hope to inspire others through their work.
Jan Kattein set up Jan Kattein Architects in 2004 with an ambition to embrace design as an open and collaborative process. His research has established the methodology that characterises the studio's work today. His contribution transcends disciplinary boundaries and includes writing, speaking, architecture, design, urbanism and theatre.
He studied at the Bartlett, where he was awarded a Distinction for his PG Diploma and a Commendation for his Masters. His PhD was twice nominated for a RIBA research Award. Jan’s book, The Architecture Chronicle: Diary of an Architectural Practice was published by Ashgate in 2014. Jan teaches and lectures in the UK and internationally. He also holds a lectureship at UCL.
Before setting up his own studio, Jan worked on urban regeneration projects at Jestico and Whiles and Peter Barber Architects. He grew the business from sole practitioner to a reputable and multiple award-winning regeneration practice. Today, responsibility for the day to day management of the studio is shared between the four directors. Aside from his strategic role, Jan writes, draws and makes. He is also often involved in participatory design activities.
They believe that an integrated approach is needed for any place to fulfil its potential. This conviction has led them to work across sectors, including regeneration, housing, economic development, education, public space and planning. In each field, their projects are united by their public purpose.
They work predominantly on civic projects. Their clients include 16 local authorities in London, HS2, British Land, Lendlease, large housing providers including Peabody and Notting Hill Genesis as well as charities, schools and community groups. Their approach has been recognised by numerous national and international design awards including the Community Prize at the NLA Awards, the RIBAJ McEwen Award and the Civic Trust Awards.
For them, sustainability is more than just a technological challenge. By engaging a broad community in frank and open conversation from the outset of a project, they can work to ensure that their proposals are needed, useful and proportionate.
Throughout design, procurement and delivery, we look for opportunities to re-activate existing spaces, use reclaimed or surplus materials and tap into local supply networks. Looking ahead, they are researching how the spaces they design and the strategies they develop can accommodate change, through flexible design strategies to demountable construction techniques. Sustainability must be a shared pursuit, and they hope to inspire others through their work.
Jan Kattein set up Jan Kattein Architects in 2004 with an ambition to embrace design as an open and collaborative process. His research has established the methodology that characterises the studio's work today. His contribution transcends disciplinary boundaries and includes writing, speaking, architecture, design, urbanism and theatre.
He studied at the Bartlett, where he was awarded a Distinction for his PG Diploma and a Commendation for his Masters. His PhD was twice nominated for a RIBA research Award. Jan’s book, The Architecture Chronicle: Diary of an Architectural Practice was published by Ashgate in 2014. Jan teaches and lectures in the UK and internationally. He also holds a lectureship at UCL.
Before setting up his own studio, Jan worked on urban regeneration projects at Jestico and Whiles and Peter Barber Architects. He grew the business from sole practitioner to a reputable and multiple award-winning regeneration practice. Today, responsibility for the day to day management of the studio is shared between the four directors. Aside from his strategic role, Jan writes, draws and makes. He is also often involved in participatory design activities.
Categories
Our selection
