Ten Degrees, the world's tallest modular building, shortlisted for an AJ Architecture Award
We are excited to share that Ten Degrees has been shortlisted in the AJ Architecture Awards for the Housing (£10 million and over) Award.
Ten Degrees is the development of two interconnected residential towers rising to 38-storey and 44-storeys to an overall height of 135 metres. The building provides 546 new homes, of which 109 of which are offered as affordable housing, designed for build-to-rent provider Greystar.
The site marks the gateway to the London Borough of Croydon’s comprehensive plans for a new ‘Cultural Quarter’ opposite East Croydon Station, and a high level of design ambition was required. The design draws heavily on the site history and the surrounding areas rich heritage of mid-century buildings including the iconic No.1 Croydon (commonly referred to as the ‘50p building’). Tide Construction were the developer and contractor with their sister company Vision Modular Systems providing the modular construction. The combination of this integrated business model and the pursuit of innovation delivery made development viable on a site that had been vacant for nearly 20 years and had been the subject of a number of previous applications. Realising a building of this scale and quality in 28 months required innovation in every aspect of the design and construction from the extensive use of virtual reality and 3D printing for rapid prototyping at planning stages through to the angled modular facade and large format glazed terracotta diamonds which together respond to orientation and aspect to create the buildings distinctive architecture.
The development creates a new public realm for Croydon at ground level, a ‘woodland winter garden’ opening up a new green space on George Street and establishing a connection to the emerging cultural quarter. The ground floor incorporates a new art gallery space, a café and some flexible spaces which can incorporate a range of possible uses including business incubator spaces and artist’s studio spaces. Residents of the building arrive via a grand double height entrance hall which opens up to a terrace and mezzanine spaces. This varied programme of different uses is unified by a ‘giant order’ 7.5m high GRC colonnade which runs around the base of the building. The scale of this colonnade is given a human scale with a combination of intricate etching, facetted forms together and pressed glazed terracotta diamonds. The winter garden is covered by a glazed pyramid grid shell roof structure which spans over 20m to enclose the sheltered arrival square.
View all shortlists here: https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/aj-architecture-awards-2021-housing-and-project-under-500k-shortlisted-projects
