Woodford Road, Watford

Key Services

Full Architectural Service, Landscape Design, Lighting Design, Planning Advice, Planning Applications, Project Management, Service Co-ordination, Space Planning

Project Details

The project involved the demolition of a single-storey commercial building in Watford, and the construction of a three-storey block of 9 one and two-bedroom flats, with private amenity space and off-street parking.

The site consisted of a two storey light industrial building, occupying the majority of the site, at the far end of an access road and had been vacant for more than 8 years. The surrounding area comprises a mix of domestic scale dwellings and a large multi-storey office building.

The residential development consists of three flats per floor, over three levels, split either side of the central staircase core. The building is set away from the boundaries with an irregular plan form with set backs and recessed areas. This has resulted in the provision of small amenity spaces on three sides of the building and a hard landscaped area to the front of the building facing the access road.

The building has a modern design, consisting of two shallow pitched roofs over the dwelling units split either side of a lower flat roof over the staircase area, with stepped brick facades. There is a significant area of glazing to the central area of the front façade in conjunction with a large rooflight, providing a high level of natural daylight to the staircase. At the rear of the building there are two rendered projecting full-height square bays, with the windows located in the flank elevations and designed not to overlook the properties located in the adjacent conservation area.