Kings Crescent Phases 1&2 London 2012–2017

RIBA National Award winner, recipient of the Mayor's Prize (New London Awards) and Housing Project of the Year (AJ Architecture Awards), Kings Crescent is an exemplary council-led estate regeneration scheme that combines high quality new housing with the meaningful transformation of existing buildings, addressing the disparity between ‘us’ and ‘them’. The masterplan was developed in collaboration with Karakusevic Carson Architects and Muf Architecture/Art. Phase 1 was completed in 2017. Phase 2 was granted detailed planning consent in November 2019.


Image 1

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    The masterplan unites old and new buildings with a shared material palette
  • 91211_NK_kings08_edit.jpg
    A uniformity of tone and stepped brickwork details add refinement to the facade of our new building
  • 22_Kings Crescent Phase 2
    New buildings to the north of Murrain Road enclose shared courtyards with existing buildings
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    All lobbies and ground floor homes open onto shared gardens
  • Model-Photo_Edited.jpg
    A study model to test the depth and composition of the street facade
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    Ground floor homes open onto a landscaped play street
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    Residents at play in the shared courtyard
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    Residents at play
  • 170724 Courtyard Section Model.jpeg
    Old and new are united across a courtyard
  • Refurb Proposed.jpeg
    An existing building prior to refurbishment
  • Refurb Existing.jpeg
    An existing building post refurbishment
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    New double height wintergardens and homes in converted garages frame a community garden
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    The residents' allotments in the shared courtyards
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    Play street

Technical

  • Appointment: 2012
  • Construction start: 2014
  • Completion: 2017
  • Area: 23,000m2
  • Budget: Circa £64m
  • Form of contract: Design & Build
  • Client: London Borough of Hackney
  • Collaborators: Karakusevic Carson Architects
  • Contractor: Higgins Construction
  • Landscape Architect: Muf Architecture/Art
  • Services Engineer: Peter Brett Associates
  • Structural Engineer: Peter Brett Associates
  • Quantity Surveyor: Philip Pank Partnership
  • Planning Consultant: Tibbalds

Bibliography

  • Dinah Bornat, ‘Case Study: Kings Crescent, East London, UK’, in: All To Play For (RIBA Publishing, London, 2025), pp.133–138
  • Jamie Gatty Irving, ‘A Short History of the Conservatory’, in: The Architectural Review, issue 1518 (emap, London, February 2025), pp.86–91
  • Anna Wood and Nitasha Kapoor, ‘Kings Crescent Estate: “There’s a feeling of life coming back”’, in: The Developer (Online, 2 December 2020)
  • Paul Karakusevic and Abigail Batchelor, ‘Social Housing: Definitions & Design Exemplars’, in: Social Housing: Definitions & Design Exemplars (RIBA Publishing, 2017), pp.122–125
  • ‘The Architect's Journal, Exemplary Housing Estate Regeneration in Europe’, in: The Architect's Journal, Exemplary Housing Estate Regeneration in Europe (September 2017), pp.14–18
  • ‘First Look, Building Design’, in: First Look, Building Design (27 September 2013), p.4
  • Rowan Moore, Council housing: how Hackney has raised the game (The Guardian, London, 2018)
  • ‘Kings Crescent Phases 1 and 2’, in: The RIBA National Award Winners 2018 (Artiface, London, 2018), pp.144–147
  • AJ Architecture Awards 2018 finalists: House and housing (Architects' Journal, October 2018)
  • Rohan Silva, Give local councils the cash to build homes and solve this crisis (Evening Standard, 12 October 2018)
  • David Levitt and Jo McCafferty, Housing Design Handbook, issue 2nd Edition (Routledge, October 2018), pp.274, 280–283
  • Rob Wilson, Democratic Regeneration: Building Study (Architects' Journal, December 2018), pp.28–41
  • Michael Kimmelman, New York has a Public Housing Problem. Does London Have an Answer? (The New York Times, March 2019)
  • RIBA Award Winning Homes (Royal Institute of British Architects, 2019), pp.20–20
  • ‘Old and new in Hackney’, in: BauNetz (Online, 19 May 2020)
  • ‘Kings Crescent Phases 1&2’, in: Divisare (Online, May 2020)
  • Dinah Bornat, ‘Case Study: Kings Crescent, East London, UK’, in: All To Play For (RIBA Publishing, London, 2025), pp.133–138

Awards

  • Civic Trust Awards, (Regional Finalist) 2019
  • RIBA National Award, 2018
  • RIBA Regional Award, London, 2018
  • AJ Award, Housing Project of the Year (Above £10m), 2018
  • AJ Award, Editor's Choice, 2018
  • Hackney Design Awards, 2018
  • New London Awards, Mayor's Prize, 2018
  • London Planning Awards, Best New Place to Live, (Shortlisted) 2018
  • London Planning Awards, Housing, (Shortlisted) 2018
  • Brick Award, Worldwide, (Shortlisted) 2018
  • Building Awards, Housing Project of the Year, (Shortlisted) 2018
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