Donnybrook Quarter
(Accommodating Change: Innovation in Housing Competition, First Prize)
“Donnybrook is one of the most innovative housing projects to be undertaken in the UK for decades… It is not impossible to imagine that in 10 years time, Donnybrook might be remembered as a significant turning point in the culture of British housing provision”
ELLIS WOODMAN, BUILDING DESIGN MAGAZINE, FEBRUARY 2006
Donnybrook Quarter is a low rise, high density street based city quarter located on a prominent corner site just south of Victoria Park in Tower Hamlets.
The scheme is laid out around two new tree lined streets which cross the site creating very strong spatial connections with adjacent neighborhoods and a handy cut through for their residents
The streets have an intimate scale being 7.5m wide and bordered on each side by two and three storey buildings. At their intersection, at the heart of the scheme, the two streets broaden out into a delightful tree lined square.
Throughout the project public space is heavily overlooked by the residents on either side. Balconies and oriel windows overhang the street, terraces and the numerous front doors create a sense of ownership and the opportunity for personalisation (pots, deck chairs, hanging baskets)
The project was commissioned by Circle 33 Housing Trust in 2003, after it was selected as winner of the Architecture Foundations' high profile 'Innovations in Housing Competition' from 150 entries worldwide. It was handed over to residents on January 2006.