Bream Street – Residential Projects – Allford Hall Monaghan Morris

Located at the edge of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Bream Street delivers regeneration in the Fish Island area through a mixed residential-led and commercial development with permeable public space adjacent to the Lee Navigation.

The scheme consists of the demolition of an existing post-war commercial building on the south-west corner of the site, site clearance including decontamination, the development of seven new buildings, shared residential amenity spaces, a new public route, and canal side public realm. The Stour Road Building (designed by East Architects), Garden Building, Canal Building, Lock Building and Bream Street Building are predominately residential, while the Employment Building and the Gatehouse Building are exclusively commercial and provide affordable maker space to the wider area.

The residential blocks provide 202 new homes and are designed to include a good proportion of homes suitable for families, with three bedrooms and generous terrace spaces. 50% of the family homes are assigned to the affordable rent tenure.

The positioning of each building responds to the wider context such as the canal, site permeability, existing trees, street frontage, and key views. Furthermore, building orientation maximises daylight and reduces overshadowing to gardens between the blocks. As a result, the masterplan delivers a series of buildings which are set around three shared gardens and a new internal public street while engaging with the various boundary conditions in a positive way. The masterplan also articulates height so that the taller buildings are located towards the canal and the lower elements towards the historic warehouse buildings. Each building’s architecture is different so that each block has its own aesthetic, character and thereby adds to the richness of the masterplan. The new canalside public realm also provides the wider area with an exciting opportunity and celebrates this historic waterfront.

By creating a special place to live and work, Bream Street contributes to the wider regeneration of East London.