Architecture

Greenford Quay restores a brownfield site which was closed to the public, previously occupied by Glaxo Smith Kline, who located there following the first world war. The derelict land, acquired by Greystar in 2016, was selected on the strength of its waterside location. It had been divided into three parcels, the former factory headquarters of Glaxo Smith Kline, situated north of the Grand Union Canal, a portion of land situated between Oldfield Lane and Berkeley Avenue, and the site of the former Sunblest Bakery to the south of the canal.

We advocated for modular construction over a more traditional method for its ability to deliver high quality homes at a rapid pace, enabling a new community to form at the earliest opportunity. We gained Greystar’s support for this approach, redesigning the scheme so residential modules could be factory made, this achieved a build speed 50% quicker than would have been achieved with traditional construction. Modular construction allowed new homes to be completed a year earlier that would have been possible with standard construction, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

We have focused on the detailed delivery of specific buildings in the masterplan including Tillermans, Lyon’s Dock and Glassworks. Modular construction has had a positive impact on the quality of these buildings, and quality of place. During construction deliveries to site were reduced by 80%, minimising noise and dust in later phases of construction. This is important on a large masterplan where people are moving into their homes whilst further phases of the project are underway.

Greenford Quay provides fantastic buildings that bring people together with exceptional amenities which would be hard to access in other neighbourhoods. Whilst Greystar’s build to rent model may seem new in the current UK housing market, the concept of renting in large, well-managed buildings has established origins in the UK. The Great Estates in London, and beyond, provided popular, rented accommodation for thousands of people in the early years of the 20 th Century. Inspired by this, the homes at Greenford Quay are easy to manage, convenient for city life and are generously proportioned to exceed London Plan standards.