Award winner for best apartment building
Living landmark
There are very few residential developments that merit being called “landmarks.” In the United States, a landmark is what we in Britain prefer to call a listed building, which is one that is given a certain level of protection from demolition or alteration on account of its architectural or historic interest. Inevitably, however, age tends to come before beauty in our listing system, so that almost anything built before 1700 tends to be listed, while it used to be considered premature to list any building that was less than 30 years old or whose architect was still living.
Fortunately, these rules have been relaxed, in order to protect certain significant recent buildings that could be threatened by the pressures of more rapid redevelopment. So while it is still impossible for Albion Riverside to be listed while it is still in its pristine condition, it is not too soon to recognise that it is already a landmark on the London scene, and one that in due course is more likely to be listed than most new buildings, along with other landmark buildings in London and elsewhere designed by Foster & Partners (the more democratic name adopted for his burgeoning architectural practice by Norman Foster – now ennobled as Lord Foster of Thames Bank).
In fact, three of his buildings are already listed: Creekvean, the Grade II listed house at Feock in Cornwall, designed in 1964 for Marcus Brumwell, founder of the Design Research Unit; the Grade I office building in Friars Street, Ipswich, completed in 1975 for Willis Faber (now Willis Limited); and the Sackler Galleries and other works from 1989 at the Royal Academy in Piccadilly, London, which are covered by the original Grade II* listing in 1970. So too would be Foster’s innovative glass roof over the courtyard of the British Museum be covered by its Grade I listing, though English Heritage has yet to update its listing notice to mention it.
In time, therefore, one may expect the Greater London Authority’s egg-shaped headquarters on the South bank of the Thames by Tower Bridge, the gherkin-shaped office building for Swiss Re in the City of London, and the boomerang-shaped Albion Riverside in Battersea to be duly immortalised by English Heritage. For the moment, however, it can just be enjoyed for its architectural quality by its residents and passers-by from the road, river or air.
Albion Riverside is a mixed-use development consisting of three buildings: the 11-storey sinuous building of aluminium and glass that contains 186 apartments and penthouses sold at prices from £250,000 up to almost £10 million, plus shops, a restaurant, art gallery, swimming pool and gymnasium for the use of residents; a low-rise office building for the UK headquarters of the Hong Kong developers, Hutchison Whampoa; and a low-rise apartment building for Peabody Trust, which provides 45 low-cost apartments for key workers. There is also a wide riverside walk for the public, running from Battersea Bridge to Albert Bridge, which is now occupied by two landmark buildings: Albion Riverside and the offices of Foster & Partners.
The architecture speaks for itself in these photographs, but mention must be made of the fact that - unusually for a speculative housing development in Britain – the architects were also responsible for the interior design, including the bespoke kitchens and bathrooms. The open-plan interiors are clean and uncluttered, with sliding wall panels for flexibilityin the use of spaces.
Edmond Ho, general manager of Hutchison Whampoa Property, says; “Innovation at the very top of the residential market in London was what we intended from the outset. Working with leading UK architects is fundamental to our approach.” That simple message is implicit in all the National HomeBuilder Design Awards, of which this building is deservedly one.
HomeBuilder: HUTCHISON WHAMPOA PROPERTY
Hutchison House, 5 Hester Road, London SW11 4AN
Tel 020 7350 5640 Fax 020 7350 5641
Contact: David Beynon, Senior Project Manager
Email: davidbeynon@hwpg.com
Website: www.hwpg.com
Architects: FOSTER AND PARTNERS
Riverside Three, 22 Hester Road, London SW11 4AN
Tel 020 7738 0455 Fax 020 7738 1107
Contact: Karin Weckermann, Awards Co-ordinator
Email: karin.weckermann@fosterandpartners.com
Website: www.fosterandpartners.com
Photography : Nigel Young/Foster & Partners (020 7738 0455)
