2 Belsham Street is a mixed use residential and office development in north east Hackney, on a thin strip of land bounded by the Burberry warehouse conversion to its north and an Edwardian terrace to the south.  The site was proposed by the boroughs planning department as ‘difficult and needing an innovative developer’. A high density solution was sought to meet residential criteria and a low tech palette of materials and technologies were combined to allow for viable affordable housing for purchase and a coherent architecture. 

The proposed scheme contains 9 residential units and provision for B1 office space.  All the units are accessible from the west and south entrances.  In massing terms the scheme forms a rhythm of extruded gable-ends of varying pitches for optimal daylight provision to habitable rooms.  These are pushed to the east and west to form courtyards to develop further accommodating and create private amenity space.  Brick and clock load bearing construction is expressed internally and externally with pre-cast concrete planks providing floor structure as well as ceiling finishes.