Brentford Waterside

The Brentford Waterside project is a regeneration scheme in the middle of London. It includes a six storey residential block of apartments, re-use of a former church, gym/leisure building and restoration of gardens for public use.

Disuse of Church and grounds over a long period of time has created - by accident - a remarkable environment of great biodiversity. The concept for the proposed scheme involves the relationship of all the building elements - apartments, Church and gym/leisure building - to a series of gardens. Central to the concept is a cloister garden, or secret garden, to the south of the Church, which incorporates a generous covered walkway. In keeping with its historic use as a churchyard, and recalling monastic precedents, the cloister connects all the buildings and creates a slow and gentle movement around the site, preserving for future generations as many trees as possible, and creating a woodland type understorey. This seeks to create an appropriate calm and beautiful setting for the Church and gym/leisure building, as well as for the apartment building.

The apartment building is six storeys over an active ground floor which will be utilised as the ‘public room’ of the Brentford Waterside Estate - it will house the concierge services and the business lounge. Both of these spaces will help activate the street, Clitheroe’s Yard, and provide some passive surveillance to the public gardens. The view of the building as it is approached from the waterside is of activity against the background of gardens and greenery.