BPR collaborated with JCSB
R&D to realise the potential of this constrained urban site. Voss Street is
a narrow service mews lying between the commercial Bethnal Green Road and the
residential Derbyshire Street. The
new live work units have been created from lean-to buildings which formerly
were garage and stable buildings for the market traders on Bethnal Green
Road. Each unit has a minimal
footprint, 4 metres deep by 9 metres long. The accommodation is arranged with work spaces at street
level connected by a central winding stair to the living areas on the first
floor and mezzanine. A roof
terrace adjacent to the mezzanine gives each unit its own private outdoor
space. For reasons of privacy and
noise the units are designed with a minimum of windows. A large sloping rooflight fills the
living spaces with sunlight.
The buildings echo the
utilitarian character of the street and the facade is animated by large
galvanised sheet tiles which overlap to create a playful dynamic pattern across
the surface of the building and along Voss Street.