Albany Road Architect Elephant and Castle development

Albany Road Architect Development

This new residential development offers three desirable apartments in a fantastic location.

The development consists of an existing brick building from the 1950's with two new extensions; an aluminium mesh clad two storey element to the front corner and a charred timber clad unit on top.

The material palette was inspired by the industrial history and vibrancy of the now disused Surrey canal, an anchor point for Burgess park's location directly opposite the building. The cladding of the top box is in burnt larch, an ancient japanese art of burning timber called Shou Sugi Ban (or Yakisugi), that preserves wood by charing it with fire. This unique technic creates a waterproof, extremely durable, and paradoxically fire-resistant material with a rich, deeply-textured appearance and colours ranging from inky black to silver grey that shimmers in the light.

This marries together with the shimmering silver aluminium mesh that clads the corner extension and which adjoins a fair-faced cast concrete light-well garden that draws light from the South into the basement level. The facades feature full height picture windows to maximise light, with some stunning views across Burgess Park in every apartment that is complemented by the choice of natural materials inside.

Designed by Emulsion, a vibrant London based architecture practice, featured on Dezeen and in Wallpaper magazine for its holistic approach to design, shapes and materials. This year named one of Britain's best emerging architecture practice in the UK by The Architecture Foundation and published in their New Architects 3 publication.