Whitehouse, Cheshunt

The building design is a simple palette of geometries, materials and textures.  A series of recesses helps articulate the High Street elevation with balconies emphasising the vertical elements of the building.  At ground level the chamfered entrance of Building A incorporates a feature metal cladding to the entrance of Building A. To the upper parts a strong grid of windows provides the geometry and elevational hierarchy of the building whilst a vertical brick patterning of projecting brick header provides an additional shadowing of the elevation that changes throughout the day.  At the top floor a bronze cladding is proposed as part of the elevation to break up the form and massing, accentuate the corner element and to create a visual interest at the junction where the building meets the sky.

Each of the 36 flats has a private balcony, or terrace at ground floor, to allow residents private amenity space.  The flats, a combination of one and two bedrooms, 16 and 20 respectively, are all designed to exceed the NDSS and accommodate the additional equipment required for space and water heating.  An exhaust air heat pumps does away with the need for gas boilers and delivers hot water, space heating and the ventilation for each flat.  The design also incorporates photovoltaics panels at roof level to generate on-site electricity. All of these measure contribute to reducing the environmental impact of these new homes whilst also addressing the issues of delivering affordability and the issues of fuel poverty.