THE DYE FACTORY

A multi unit residential development in East London

E13

Our Dye Factory project consisted of the redevelopment of a historic warehouse and office building in Plaistow, East London, to provide 22 new residential units for sale. Working with the Thornbury Group, consent was obtained through permitted development for 21 of the units, with planning permission also achieved for an additional unit on the roof.

The development was split into two blocks; one within the original warehouse element of the building, and the other forming a sperate wing separated by an external mews like passage between. Original crittal windows were retained throughout the warehouse element, with new internal insulation and secondary glazing installed to bring the thermal performance of the building up to modern standards. The newer wing was reconstructed at basement and ground floor level, to cut in a new courtyard which the lower residential units were arranged around.

Behind the warehouse-like external scale, much of the development has a backland mews type feel to it, entered through an undercroft into the external common parts which serve six of the units which have their own front doors to the outside. Green encaustic tiles line the walls of the main entrance space, with a curved black steel external stair with mesh balustrades occupying the centre of the lightwell.

The units were all designed to meet residential space standards, not a requirement for permitted development schemes at the time, but something that was important to both the design team and the developer. The internal fit out was simple and industrial in concept, with black stained timber and metal mesh detailing to the duplex staircases. Bathrooms combined simple white ceramic tiles alongside geometric floor tiling, and kitchens providing colour with blue base units.

Generous quantities of light were cut into the properties wherever possible, with units benefitting from rooflights, new curtain wall glazing to the top floor, and the large crittal warehouse openings through the majority of the development. Duplex units spanning the basement and ground floors were designed with generous double height spaces to borrow light down from the windows on the upper levels and provide a sense of space and drama within the tight footprints.

Photographs by Agnese Sanvito