Capital Corner

Does the city yard have a place in 21st Century London? This question defined the brief for the design of two new buildings consisting of commercial creative studio spaces and retail with a centralised public yard in Whitechapel. The site is currently empty and used as a private car park. Feeding into the current Tower Hamlets vision for Whitechapel, we are proposing a new public space for the vibrant area. The site fronts both the busy Whitechapel Road and New Road. Our proposals are based on infilling the voids in the streetscape, reinforcing the urban block, while creating a new piece of public realm protected from traffic and noise. The relatively simple forms of the proposed buildings are based on the grid and rhythm of the street. Situated on a prominent corner site the two buildings develop a language which provide coherence, unifying the architectural language of Whitechapel Road and New Road. The massing of the scheme will be detailed with precision, incorporating subtle accents, relief and textural transition. Workplaces Winner in the New London Awards 2019.