Branch Place provides the first replacement homes in the Colville Estate Masterplan, a major urban renewal providing 925 homes (replacing 438 existing homes), new street networks, public green space and carparking provision.

The revised estate replaces a series of run-down 1950's buildings which were in poor repair and organised in a way which made the estate feel inward looking and closed off from their surroundings. The estate re-design provides better quality council homes and re-connects buildings back into the local neighbourhood.

The project is conceived as a family of two buildings - Clift House and Dorchester House. Their design balances consistency of urban form with a variety of architectural character between each building, achieved through articulated roof lines, facades and subtle variations in
brick tone.

Buildings are crafted from a palette of high-quality tenure-blind materials: brickwork, metalwork and timber. This selected palette was chosen to create attractive and robust council homes which sit comfortably in their context.

A copper mansard roof on Dorchester House (the building next to Regent’s Canal) reflects the undulating roofscape of neighbouring historic warehouse buildings and marks an entrance to the revised Colville Estate.

A comprehensive street and public realm network was created as part of this phase. A neighbourhood route running east-west forms a vital link through the scheme while pedestrian priority streets run north-south to reconnect the estate back into the local area. Street-accessed homes enliven the public realm and contribute to a sense of place.

The project has been characterised by working incredibly closely with the local TRA and Colville Estate community on the re-design from concept through to delivery.

Within the OPA for the masterplan, the establishment of a Design Code and Residents Charter locked in quality and design intent into each future phase.