Fish Island Village. Monier Road
Fish Island Village, a new £125 million live-work neighbourhood to the south of Hackney Wick, has reached a major milestone: two sections within an ensemble of buildings by Haworth Tompkins, Pitman Tozer Architects and Lyndon Goode Architects, have just welcomed their first residents.
Located within one of the 2012 Olympic Fringe areas opposite Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Fish Island Village is a joint venture development between Peabody, one of London’s oldest and largest housing associations, and Hill, an award-winning top 15 UK housebuilder. Stirling Prize winner Haworth Tompkins is the masterplanning architect of the 2.85 hectare site, with the public realm and rooftops designed by landscape architect Farrer Huxley Associates. The scheme replaces an inaccessible site of disused single-storey distribution warehouses with a collection of mid-rise buildings interspersed with new public spaces fronting onto the canal.
Sited next to an existing live/work block, Omega Works, Fish Island Village opens up 200 metres of previously closed-off canal frontage along the Hertford Union Canal. The new development will create a dynamic canal side neighbourhood with a public square for local activities and spill-out space for the ground floor bars and restaurants.
Phases 1 and 2 of Fish Island Village (on site to complete 2020) comprise four distinct mixed-use sections designed by three architecture practices working in collaboration, appointed individually through Peabody’s architecture framework. Pitman Tozer Architects is responsible for three blocks on Monier Road; Lyndon Goode Architects has designed Lanterna, a free-standing block facing onto a new public space at the northeast corner of the site; and Haworth Tompkins is the architect of Neptune Wharf, two clusters with 13 blocks fronting onto the canal. Monier Road and Lanterna are now complete, with residents moving in. Works continue on site at Neptune Wharf.
Monier Road
Monier Road comprises 71 homes for Londoners, including apartments and maisonettes offered through shared ownership, affordable rent and private sale. Ten of the homes are offered at affordable rents and five shared ownership through Peabody.
The homes are spread across three blocks, each with its own identity and palette of materials, arrangedaround a central courtyard providing shared amenity space as well as gardens for family units. The mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units all benefit from a carefully considered layout and outdoor space. Gallery access allows maximum dual aspect units, bringing abundant daylight.
Adopting a restrained palette of materials with brick façades, Pitman Tozer’s mid-rise brick building is inspired by the warehouse typology characteristic of London’s industrial past. The fabric of the building is intended to be robust and durable, using solid bricks with deep reveals. Taking its cue from the industrial heritage of the area, each of the three blocks is named after the gas, light and energy companies that previously occupied the site: Ardens, Winsor and Ignis. The black brick base, within indented glazed bricks, provides a visual connection with Lanterna to the north.
