Fish Island London 2018–2023

Residential building for 330 students, incubator workspace for graduates, and workspace for creatives on Fish Island in Hackney Wick, just west of the Olympic Park. The scheme was granted detailed planning in 2019 and completed in 2023.

Image 1

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    Fish Island and Hackney Wick has a rich heritage of industrial architecture, a mixture of warehouse and factory space…
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    …characterised by its diversity, robust and authentic construction. The proposals draw on this industrial heritage
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    The design recalls the historic arrangement of the now demolished John Broadwood & Sons piano factory (Fish Island, 1949)
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    Highlighted in bold, the scheme falls within the London Legacy Development Area
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    The design creates a new urban block punctuated by a yard and a public route through the scheme
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    Study bedrooms face the street giving each resident privacy from the communal life of the courtyard and views of the neighbourhood
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    The second quadrangle is a public yard and focus for Stour Space’s activities in a separate 5-storey building flanking the east side of the space
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    The layout of the student accommodation on the upper floors is structured around the two new courtyards
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    Grand masonry facades of brick piers and arched precast concrete lintels recall the industrial past
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    Facade study model, courtyard elevation
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    Wick Park student accommodation
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    Brightly coloured windows reflect the creative community
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    Entrance forecourt to the commercial yard, one of two new public spaces
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    Stour Space’s industrial interiors open onto decks at each level
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    Communal kitchen dining spaces and glazed corridors face inwards, overlooking the courtyards

Technical

  • Appointment: 2018
  • Completion: 2023
  • Client: Future Generation / University of the Arts London / Stour Trust
  • Planning Authority: London Legacy Development Corporation
  • Landscape Architect: James Blake Associates
  • Heritage Consultant: Heritage Collective
  • Structural Engineer: Meinhardt
  • Services Engineer: Elementa Consulting
  • Cost Consultant: K2 Consultancy
  • Principal Designer: Collaton Safety
  • Daylight and Sunlight Consultant: Eb7
  • Fire Consultant: AESG
  • Arboricultural Consultant: Treavour Heaps Consultancy
  • Archaeological Consultant: Archaeology Collective
  • Land Contamination: Merebrook
  • Transport Consultant: Motion
  • Statement of Community Involvement: Connect Consulting
  • Student Accommodation Needs: Knight Frank

Bibliography

  • Case study: Fish Island by Henley Halebrown’, in: The Architects' Journal (Online, 4 September 2024)
  • ‘Fish Island by Henley Halebrown’, in: AJ Specification, issue July 2024 (emap, London, July 2024), pp.36–47
  • Rowan Moore, ‘Heft and High Ideals’, in: The Observer (Guardian Media Group, London, 19 November 2023), p.29
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