The small town in Surrey is best known for its three-span white granite bridge, built in 1832. Exactly next to it, on the road that has existed since Roman Britain, it is planned to erect a residential building with an area of 18,754 m2. The building will be located on top of the existing 2-tier parking lot for 126 cars and will cost - according to preliminary data - £ 30 million.
The architects chose the shape of a circle for their project, explaining this by the desire to include the building as much as possible in a very dense environment, thereby making it a socially significant center of the entire district. This circle is not closed: the outer facade faces the embankment, the bridge and further, to the street that continues it, and the inner one, covering a small courtyard, opens into the urban space. Moreover, the part of the building overlooking the embankment gradually lowers, opening a view of the river to the inhabitants of the apartments facing inward.
On the side of the "city" facade there are two ramps for the entrance to the first and second levels of the parking lot and a public green area, which, passing under the building, descends by steps to the embankment. The glassed-in base is planned for retail premises, a hotel, a cafe and a gallery. Seven residential floors with apartments for one, two or three bedrooms open onto the façade with rectangular glazed modules. The construction of the building, thus, has something in common with the laying of the bridge. The concrete structures of the lower apartments become balconies for the upper ones, and the inhabitants of the first floor have access to small private gardens. The modules themselves rotate smoothly relative to each other, following the curvature of the facade, which creates a dynamic shape.
The project is designed to minimize its negative impact on the environment. The architects envisioned the use of durable, practical panels and laminated timber, and a high percentage of recycled materials and ash are planned to be added to concrete and cement; the courtyard will be covered with recycled wood. Thanks to panoramic glazing, a competent location and a calculated shape of the building, the sun's rays easily penetrate the interior, allowing to shorten the operating time of the already economical LEDs and making it possible to effectively use the thermal mass of the structure. The permeability of the facades also made it possible to dispense with natural ventilation.
