Barking Central links commercial needs with civic engagement to breathe life into what had become something of a forgotten Thames Gateway backwater. A cluster of new buildings – a diverse mix of forms, heights, tones and textures – are positioned around the existing Barking Town Hall to capture a civic square and reintroduce historical routes. Phase one, completed in 2007, is a U-shaped block of apartments perching on a colonnade of v-shaped props. The apartments sit above the new Barking Learning Centre that has been reinvented out of an aging public library. Phase two, completed in 2010, comprises five more buildings; three residential blocks, a 66-bed hotel and a bicycle shed for 250 bikes. The Lemonade Building, the tallest of the residential towers at 17-storeys, signposts the project from the A13 and beyond. Drawing inspiration from the site’s former R Whites factory and the leaf tones of the central arboretum, the overall colour scheme not only binds together the cluster of buildings but emphasises the protruding balconies and recessed loggias. The project is the result of a drawn-out dance between public and private interests and stands as a lived-in symbol of the wider-scale regeneration of the area.

Awards
  • 2011 New London Award for Joint Overall Winner
  • 2011 New London Award for Placemaking
  • 2011 RIBA Award for Architecture
  • 2010 Building for Life Award
  • 2010 Building for Life Silver Standard
  • 2010 Housing Design Award
  • 2010 London Planning Awards - Best New Public Space
  • 2010 World Architecture Festival - Commended
  • 2009 Brick Awards - Best Use of Brick and Clay Products
  • 2008 British Construction Industry Awards - Local Authority Award
  • 2008 European Prize for Public Urban Space
  • 2007 MIPIM Best Mixed Use Award
  • 2005 Housing Design Award

Exhibitions
  • 2012 Chromazone
  • 2012 Bauhaus Live
  • 2012 Venice Biennale of Architecture
  • 2011 City Visions
  • 2010 City Visions
  • 2010 London Issues 2010
  • 2008 Des Res
  • 2008 London Towns
  • 2007 PublicCity: Places for People
2010
Location
Barking, London
Cost
£71 Million
Client
Redrow Regeneration Ltd & Borough of Barking and Dagenham
Architect
Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
BLC Stakeholders
London Borough of Barking & Dagenham, Barking College and University of East London
Project Manager
Gill Associates
Quantity Surveyor
Nigel Rose LLP
Structural / Civil Engineer
Buro Happold Ltd
Services Engineer
Faber Maunsell
Landscape Architect
Grant Associates
Public Realm Architect
muf architecture/art
Fire Consultant
Buro Happold Ltd (Fedra)
Accessibility Consultant
Buro Happold Ltd
Highways Consultant
Buro Happold Ltd
Acoustic Consultant
Bickerdike Allen Partners
Planning Consultant
Hepher Dixon (246 scheme) and Robson Planning Consultancy (up to 206 scheme)
Planning Supervisor
Tweeds Project Services
Approved Inspector
NHBC
Main Contractor
Ardmore Construction Ltd
Graphic Design
Studio Myerscough


Sub-Contractors

BLC Cladding & Glazing
M Price Ltd
Residential Cladding
Cladding UK


Suppliers

Resi Windows
Leiab
BLC Cladding
Schuco
BLC Furniture
Quinze & Milan / SCP and Vitra

Open House London 2021 02.09.21

Open House London 2019 19.09.19

Allford
Hall
Monaghan
Morris