Tower Court, Stamford Hill

2025 RIBA London Award

Tower Court, Hackney, London
Adam Khan Architects, Muf Architecture/Art, Child Graddon Lewis Architects for Hackney Council
Contract value: £37 million
GIA: 13,622m²
Cost per m²: £2,720

Tower Court is the product of an architectural team made up of Adam Khan Architects, Muf Architecture/Art and Child Graddon Lewis Architects, commissioned by Hackney Borough Council as part of its commitment to create greater density on 18 housing estates within the borough. The site faces Clapton Common, with many magnificent mature trees immediately to the south. There were previously 1950s housing blocks on the site, which were not considered suitable for upgrading, and which this scheme replaces. Having homes that looked out over trees was an aspect of the original estate that the residents valued highly.

The 132 new homes, plus an ambulance depot, are divided into four blocks. They are typically six storeys high, with one rising to form a tower of 12 storeys. The units are mixed tenure, with some for social rent being provided in each block. The private-sale units (61 per cent of the total) are confined to two blocks and include all of the upper units in the tower. Two-storey maisonettes occupy the lower two floors of each block. The most common unit types are one or two-bedroom flats. There are also five-bedroom flats to cater for the larger families who were residents of the demolished blocks.

An impressive aspect of the scheme is the extent of consultation that took place, ensuring that the specific needs of the returning families, in particular, would be met properly in the new designs. Consultation involved pop-up stands in supermarkets as well as meeting with families in their former homes and on the common.

Much time was spent in fully understanding how the outdoor spaces could meet the need for gathering, socialising and children’s play. The architects describe a ‘vigorous collaboration’ with the landscape architects so that the buildings and landscape were conceived as one. Residents speak of children mixing and playing together, with older children supervising the younger ones.

The site layout optimises views of the mature trees, while meeting the requirement to double the density of the existing accommodation. Even with this intensification, the blocks sit at a comfortable distance from each other, their lozenge shapes narrowing at the ends to create a more informal relationship than if they were rigidly parallel. The landscape between them is pedestrianised and incorporates gently undulating levels, bridges, potted plants and benches. Generous attention to surface, pattern and colour has been given around the communal entrances, making each feel specific and celebrated. 

Tower Court successfully densifies an existing local-authority estate, knitting it into the complex urban fabric and seamlessly integrating a rich variety of unit types in a tenure-blind three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle. The brick detailing, entrance treatments and outdoor space show an attention to detail and elevate the typology from what is often expected in the tough housing procurement market.

See the rest of the 2025 RIBA London winners here. And all our RIBA UK Award winners here.

View the full RIBA UK Awards 2025 process.

 

RIBA Regional Awards 2025 sponsored by Autodesk, EH Smith, Equitone and Velux