Ten Degrees, the world's tallest modular building, completes

HTA-designed world’s tallest modular housing scheme opens in Croydon

Ten Degrees Croydon sets new standards of design quality and construction efficiency for high-rise living in our urban centres. Reaching a height of 135m, the project delivers 546 homes within a pair of 38 and 44-storey towers, making it the world’s tallest residential modular building.

HTA has long championed the capacity of modular construction to deliver better housing in measurably more sustainable buildings. This project is a clear demonstration that building tall can be beautiful, while challenging any perception that modern methods of construction need be a limit on design quality.

The highest levels of design ambition drove the project throughout, to make the most of this prominent site by East Croydon Station which had been vacant for decades. The design draws heavily on the rich heritage of the local mid-century buildings including Richard Seifert’s iconic No1 Croydon, which influenced the design throughout.

Realising a building of this scale and quality at speed required innovation in every aspect of design and construction, from the extensive use of virtual reality and 3D printing for rapid prototyping at planning through to the angled modular façade and large-format glazed terracotta diamonds, which respond to orientation and aspect to create the distinctive architecture.

HTA began work on the concept in February 2017, gaining detailed consent before the end of the year had – with the height increased during the process to lift housing numbers and local benefits. The pace of consent is testament to the proactive approach of Croydon Council’s planning team, helped by a track record of delivering quality in a number of earlier schemes designed by HTA for developer and contractor Tide Construction, and delivered with its sister manufacturing company Vision Modular Systems.

The continuity of this team working together drove a culture of innovation and continuous improvement enabling the entire project to be delivered from first concept sketch to handover in just 39 months. The modular construction also resulted in a 40 per cent reduction in embodied carbon compared to traditional construction methods, with a significant reduction in waste, and improved quality control to ensure higher performance through operation.

Ten Degrees defines a new benchmark in the potential of modular construction to deliver more, better-designed homes, in buildings of the highest architectural quality with world-leading engineering.
Simon Bayliss, managing partner, HTA Design

Read the article on Architect's Journal here.