HTA Design has completed Europe’s tallest modular residential development in Croydon, south London. The 163-metre-high scheme draws inspiration from Richard Seifert’s NLA Tower, and includes a visually-striking installation by designed by Adam Nathaniel Furman.
HTA Design has completed College Road, a modular residential development in Croydon, south London, for developer Tide. The scheme comprises two adjoining elements: a 50-storey build-to-rent tower with 817 apartments, called Enclave: Croydon; and a 35-storey tower providing 120 affordable homes. Standing 163-metres-high, the development is believed to be Europe’s tallest modular residential tower, surpassing Croydon’s 135-metre-high Ten Degrees development, also by HTA and Tide (2020).
Working in collaboration with Tide’s in-house design team, HTA drew inspiration for the scheme from the hopeful mid-century vision upon which much of Croydon is based. The town saw an influx of development in the 1950s and 1960s that included Richard Seifert’s revered brutalist NLA Tower. The latter strongly influenced College Road’s visually-striking, ceramic-clad geometric façade.
Alongside its neighbour Ten Degrees, College Road forms a gateway to Croydon’s emerging cultural quarter. At the base of the development is a grand seven-metre-high colonnade, incorporating a permanent installation by London artist Adam Nathaniel Furman. The columns are wrapped in three-dimensional glazed porcelain tiles, adding a beautifully crafted streetscape to the town centre, and linking to a wider network of landscaped public routes between East Croydon Station and the cultural quarter.
The project was the first co-living asset class to be approved by the GLA under the London Plan, and its design and layout are the result of extensive research into successful overseas rental communities, from the Netherlands to the USA. “Every aspect of the development was designed to offer residents the most liveable private space, while also having the free enjoyment of truly fantastic communal facilities,” commented Simon Bayliss, Managing Partner at HTA Design.
Enclave: Croydon incorporates generous shared-amenity spaces, including a podcast studio, spa with steam room and sauna, gymnasium, co-working and conference rooms, as well as a 50th-floor sky garden, featuring dedicated entertainment and wellbeing spaces. The tower’s interiors were designed by Tigg + Coll in collaboration with HTA and Outpost Interiors.
As both developer and contractor for the project, Tide worked alongside its sister company and volumetric manufacturer, Vision, using an approach that cuts traditional construction time by up to 50 per cent. The efficiency of Vision’s offsite technology resulted in 73 per cent of the development’s floor plate being installed in 32 per cent of the programme. This helped to achieve the ambitious 28-month delivery schedule.
Additional Images
