 Evelyn Road
| Address: |
Evelyn Road, West Silvertown, London, E16 |
| Client: |
Peabody Trust |
| Architect: |
Niall McLaughlin Architects |
| Engineers: |
Whitby Bird |
| Client Representative: |
Walker Management |
| Contract Sum: |
£1.7m
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| Completion Date: |
October 2004 |
Description:
The Evelyn Road scheme started as a design competition by the Peabody Trust entitled "Fresh Ideas for Social Housing". The design competion covered three sites, only two of which were eventually progressed - Evelyn Road and Boxley Street.
Sandwood was introduced into the team at an early stage after the competition but before the submission of a planning application. Our role was to add technical input but also, more crucially, to help control costs, without adversely impacting the competition winning design. Sandwood was chosen for the role because of its long and successful association with The Peabody Trust.
The contract form was Design and Build with the architects and other consultants novated to Sandwood. Design and Build is an excellent form of procurement but it is not noted for its success where design quality and innovation are paramount. It was also the architect's first experience of D&B. The key was to create an atmosphere in which the team could discuss cost and design issues in an open and trusting manner and set and agree priorities.
As well as working together to find a way of producing the dichroic facade within the scheme's cost constraints, the team also had to cope with poor and heavily contaminated ground conditions.
The building is timer frame with a beam and block ground floor on piled foundations with a Bauder single ply membrane roof. Apart from the dichroic front facade, it is clad in brick to the ground floor and stairwells and stained timber to the sides and rear.
Internally the main features are the high ceilings, space and the use of light.
Evelyn Road won a RIBA Design Award and a Civic Trust award.
"Sandwood are practical well organised builders with a strong partnering ethos. They support and retain skilled in-house staff and they command loyalty from employees, clients, project managers and architects. This is because they believe in excellence and they set about their tasks with professionalism. They realised what we considered a priority, they communicated this to us, and they showed that they made it their priority too."
Quote: Niall McLaughin, Architect
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