Braun

Two Solidspace projects, Stapleton Hall Road and Zog House, have been selected for inclusion in the latest book by author and art historian, Chris van Uffelen entitled Living in Style. Published in spring 2015 by Braun, the book showcases 100 carefully selected projects from around the world that demonstrate innovative approaches to contemporary living. From Singapore to El Salvador, the book presents a collection of inspiring case studies of homes – from townhouses to apartments and from bungalows to innovative loft conversions. The book highlights the benefits of the Solidspace split-level model and puts these two projects within the context of other similarly progressive developments worldwide. You can purchase your copy here. Braun, in their own words... Braun Publishing AG specialises in books on architecture, design and urban development. The publishing program includes an extensive range of scientific titles and popular works, as well as high-quality illustrated books and architecture guides. Annually, we publish 30-40…

Publication

Weston Street Monograph

This monograph illustrates our latest development at Weston Street, SE1. Designed by Simon Allford of Stirling Prize winning practice, AHMM, Weston Street is the result of a 10 year ongoing collaboration that is testament to our approach to independent development. This publication tells the story of the development and showcases the design for the tessellating Solidspace apartments currently onsite and scheduled to complete in 2017.   More publication projects  

David Kohn Architects

David Kohn Architects worked on Skyroom, a rooftop space located in London Bridge. Originally conceived as a temporary public venue, Skyroom is now being transformed into an innovative new office space.   David Kohn Architects, in their own words... DKA is an architecture practice based in London working internationally on arts, education, residential and urban design projects. The practice specialises in spaces for art having completed five leading galleries in London. Other recent projects range from an arts strategy for London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to a courtyard house in Beijing, from an apartment in Barcelona to public spaces for several London boroughs. Innovation is cultivated through office-based and academic research into materials, construction techniques and the cultural contexts of each project. Excellence in design is pursued through collaborating closely with our clients, consultant teams, contractors and end users. DKA has built a reputation for the quality of its design, winning World Interior of the Year in 2013 and RIBA,…

Abrahams

We have an ongoing relationship with 'brand champions ' Abrahams. Our collaborative projects include the Solidspace brand identity, our publications, building site hoardings and much more. Our latest project was the design of Roger's book Shouldn't we all be developers?   Abrahams, in their own words... We curate brands, business, books and events. We consider everything we do to be work. Some is for others, some is for ourselves. Some is paid, some is not. Some we do with others, some we do on our own. We’re happy to say no to work that's not right for us. Because we only do work that we love.   More collaborators

Development

Skyroom

Skyroom is another one of those projects that is indicative of the way we work and how projects can evolve and change over time. This project was developed in collaboration with The Architecture Foundation, a think-tank for architecture that we have supported over the years. They had developed an exchange programme between young architects in the UK and Turkey to look at the similarity and differences between their approach to design in London and Istanbul. One theme that emerged was how in Istanbul the rooftops of buildings were used as public spaces and were seen as potential gap sites in the city for appropriation. The architects believed - as did we - that there was potential to bring this to London by raising awareness of the many spaces and places that are available if you just look up. Therefore we developed Skyroom together with David Kohn Architects, one of the UK…

Publication

Centaur Street Monograph

This brochure was created to showcase our very first Solidspace project on Centaur Street. We like to think of it as a catalogue for an art piece as we view this project as a sculpture for living in. Entitled, Between the Viaduct and My Dreams (a line from a song by Van Morrison), the monograph tells the story of our collaboration with architects dRMM and how the development came to fruition. A foreword by journalist Jonathan Glancey is included, who at the time of publishing was the architecture critic for the Guardian. An extract from his essay... "What our cities need is developers with the intelligent concern and willingness to take risks of Roger Zogolovitch, the talents of architects like dRMM and local authority officers keen to create a new generation of popular housing free of sentimentality, kitsch detailing and wilfully anti-urban design. Standing alongside one of the busiest main line railways in…

Research

The Open University

Intermittently, we have been in discussion with the Open University, investigating the qualitative benefits of living in a home that has been designed volumetrically. Whilst homes in England have been typically designed in response to a prescriptive regulatory framework we wish to challenge this by working from an understanding of how the home is actually used. Research staff from the Open University’s design group visited Stapleton Hall Road and invited volunteers interested in Solidspace to walk around the homes wearing eye tracking glasses to gather data about what people look at when they experience a Solidspace home, so that we can better understand the benefits of the additional space in the split-level layout. The gathered data has not yet been analysed. More on the Open University can be found here… www.open.ac.uk  

Research

Loughborough University

We are collaborating with Loughborough University on Moden Methods of Construction for Solidspace split-level units. Solidspace units are formed from in-situ concrete, which is a material that provides thermal mass, fire and sound insulation and an engineering solution that responds to the infill sites where Solidspace developments are located. Solidspace has been a sponsor and joint venture partner with Loughborough University’s Civil and Building Engineering Department for over three years, supporting an Engineering Doctorate project on innovation of concrete structures for housing on infill sites. This work uses prefabricated formwork, which is re-usable up to 100 times and hand lifted. This research has directly influenced our Solidspace Connect designs. The image above shows the first prototype testing an innovative concrete pouring technique that allows us to pour both horizontally and vertically at the same time to create large bespoke slabs as shown. Loughborough University, in their own words… www.lboro.ac.uk/