Bell Phillips gets green light for Pocket Living flats in Streatham

The project will create 92 build-to-rent homes, half of which will be affordable, alongside community facilities and space for shops on a brownfield site on Leigham Court Road. The area is currently occupied by a car park, disused toilet block, vacant synagogue and a former bowling green.

The toilet block will be replaced by a three-storey building, housing shops and community space. This will lead away from the road to the new flats spread across three blocks, ranging from four to six storeys.

The affordable housing has been drawn up in collaboration with Lambeth Council, and comprises 15 for social rent, including several family-sized homes, and 31 at a discount market rate. Of these, some will be ‘pocket homes’ – one-bed flats designed for a single person.

The scheme prioritises communal space space ‘to foster a sense of community’, and includes a shared garden, a rooftop terrace and a flexible work/social space on the ground floor.

The minimum gross internal floor area for a one-person flat is 39m2. However, this can be reduced to 37m2 where the home has a shower room instead of a bathroom, which is the case in the Bell Phillips design.

Lambeth Council will take ownership of one of the three residential buildings, while the other two, containing the pocket homes, will be run by Pocket Living.

The shared green space has been created from what would have been the gardens of several large 19th-century villas that sit within the development site and form part of a local conservation area. Bell Phillips has used this existing space to craft the narrative of a ‘secret garden’, the approach to the site being a ‘gradual discovery’ of new buildings and greenery.

Practice director Tim Bell said the scheme was ‘aimed at London’s young professionals and key workers’ while also supporting the high street and community infrastructure.

‘Unlocking sites such as this is key to meeting housing targets through sustainable densification, and we are looking forward to delivering the project,’ he said.

The Leigham Court Road development is set to be all-electric and targets a BREAAM Very Good rating. It will use low-heat-loss fabric for the walls, solar panels on the roofs, and both air source and exhaust air heat pumps to further reduce grid energy demand.

Pocket Living chief executive Paul Rickard said: ‘This endorsement of our planning application not only means that we can continue building the affordable homes that we know are needed, it also demonstrates that even within this challenging development environment, SME developers are playing their part to tackle the housing crisis.’

Meanwhile, Bell Phillips has recently received planning approval for a 3,000m2 energy centre – its first infrastructure project – to help power the emerging 6,700-home Brent Cross Town development.

Set to become one of the largest of its kind in the UK, the new facility will contribute to the whole scheme setting a precedent for low-carbon energy efficiency.

The practice says the design was inspired in part by Mies van der Rohe’s Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin. The building features a ‘floating’ deck at roof level, intended to resemble a flying carpet hovering over the main structure, which itself takes the form of an inverted ziggurat.

The first phase of construction is due to begin later this year, with the centre to be fully complete in 2032.

Pocket Living project data