Ram Quarter is a residential-led mixed-use masterplan which has transformed the historic Young’s brewery site into a new urban quarter that celebrates the strong heritage of the Ram Brewery buildings and creates a vibrant new heart in Wandsworth town centre.

Beer has been produced on the site since at least 1533, making it the oldest continuously operating brewery in the UK. Despite Young’s closing in 2006, a small-scale brewery was maintained on site during the construction period to ensure that the development retained this legacy. Set within the Grade II* listed brewery complex is a new microbrewery, a heritage centre and accommodation for independent retailers, restaurants and exclusive loft-style apartments.

The listed buildings have been carefully integrated into the Ram Quarter masterplan, which was conceived as a series of interlinked public urban spaces and with the previously inaccessible riverfront of the River Wandle featuring enhanced biodiversity, planted terraces, footpaths and three new pedestrian bridges.

Ten lower-level buildings adopt and reinterpret the materials, forms and scale of the existing industrial structures to define the urban edges of the public realm. At ground level, the elevations are enlivened with retail units to create a vibrant and active environment, whilst above, the high-quality residential accommodation benefits from the more tranquil setting of private roof gardens.

EPR’s design uses a restricted palette of materials: brick for the façades, and copper or zinc for the roofs. This selection is a response to the character of the conservation area and the historic use of these materials within the old brewery.