ABSTRACT
The site marks the gateway to the London Borough of Croydon’s comprehensive plans for a new ‘Cultural Quarter’ opposite East Croydon station, and a high level of design ambition was required. The development creates a new public realm for Croydon at ground level, a ‘woodland winter garden’ opening up a new green space on George Street and establishing a connection to the emerging cultural quarter. The proximity of East Croydon’s transport hub provides the highest levels of connectivity by public transport with London Bridge and Gatwick both only 15 minutes away. An intensive sequence of pre-application meetings with the London Borough of Croydon created a dialogue that resulted in a significant increase in height from the existing planning consent on the site. Given the proposal’s unprecedented height as a modular building there was little data to demonstrate what if any stiffness the modules could contribute to the lateral stability of the building.
