RCKa is delighted to have won a Housing Design Award for our Highgate and Newtown Community Centre in Camden. We were appointed in 2014 to improve the long-term future of the site and we believe the project is a key example of how Councils can use the building of new homes to fund vital community resources.
The scheme aims to enhance the local character by delivering a coherent piece of architecture which is respectful of and distinct from the rich and varied context. It seeks to establish a positive dialogue between existing and proposed buildings and a strong relationship between private and public space – encouraging social cohesion and knitting the site into its physical and social context.
“Camden continues its performance as one of the most active providers of high-quality new generation council homes in London, building on a long and proud heritage of pioneering social housing across the borough over the past 80 years. This development created an enigmatic enclave of housing with four brick villa blocks clustered around a sheltered piazza, served by a radiating array of pedestrian pathways. The scheme offers an imaginative framework that delivers individual homes within a strong civic presence.”
– Ike Ijeh, Building, 5 July 2018