Sheltered Housing, Walthamstow, London

This is the second of five similar projects to completed by the design team for the Ujima Housing Association. All of these projects place a strong emphasis upon environmental performance, sustainability, and low running costs. This building has been structured using pre-cast beam and block floors, and timber composite beam roof structures, supported by load bearing brick and blockwork walls.

The external walls are of solid dense masonry, with no cavity, giving high thermal mass and good structural performance, with an external skin of acrylic render over insulation. The south façade is largely glazed, with galvanized steel balconies and solar shading structures, and has been designed to allow the later addition of photo-voltaic panels. In contrast the north façade has sheltered windows that are placed behind wall openings formed by air-brick panels with no structural lintels. The main entrance opens onto a protected courtyard clad in timber and polycarbonate sheeting. The project construction value is £445,000.

Architect Walter Menteth Architects