Hale Wharf occupies a sliver of land where the urban intensity of Tottenham Hale meets designated green belt, the reservoirs and rivers of the Lee Valley and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). A residential development for joint venture Waterside Places (Muse Developments and the Canal and River Trust), once complete it will provide 505 homes of a mix of size and tenure. Phase one of the development, 249 homes in the two tallest buildings within the Hale Wharf masterplan, has recently completed. 

At the south-eastern tip of the site, the tallest (Navigation Point) rises to 21 storeys before stepping down to 8 as it meets Ferry Lane. Its multi-stock brick envelope is punctuated by a repeating rhythm of recessed metal windows with vertical white aluminium fins and projecting metal balconies, pitched zinc roofs and brick gable ends. To the north, its 14-storey counterpart (Windlass Apartments) is similarly formed, conceived as a robust waterside building and finished in a slightly lighter selection of the same brick and a series of pitched zinc roofs. The building is now 100% BTR and owned by Grainger.

A cluster of small-scale non-residential uses (retail, a cafe and residents’ facilities) is grouped around Approach Square located where the bridge from Tottenham Hale lands on the island. Three existing barges moored alongside house small businesses, with the potential for additional moorings for similar uses in the future.

Projecting metal balconies provide private amenity space to both buildings and allow homes to profit from the long, spectacular views. The balconies are suspended by metal hangers, influenced by the robust detail of historical waterside buildings, and afford excellent views – across the parkland and wetlands to the east, north and south of the site, and to the lock and surrounding neighbourhoods to the west. Materials are brick and metal, windows have slim, dark-coloured frames, chosen so that they almost disappear.