A. Introduction

Though we agree with many of the concerns raised about Robin Hood Gardens , we feel they can be readily addressed, and in doing so, Robin Hood Gardens can be transformed into highly desirable place to live, and a centre-piece to the regeneration of the Blackwall Reach site. We propose a set of urban and architectural strategies and tactics to repair and intensify the site and re-engineer the Robin Hood Garden buildings, utilising and expanding upon their iconic qualities. These initial investigations suggest that retaining Robin Hood Gardens would be the most socially and environmentally sustainable way of meeting the client’s stated aspirations. Surely it would be a missed opportunity to resort to ‘regeneration by demolition’?

B. Urban Strategy

The urban strategy revolves around 3 main approaches – Manipulating the site’s landscape to repair and re-order the sites urban structure - Using a set of amenity links to define the sites boundary and re-knit the site into its adjacent areas, transforming it into an area destination. - Both accommodating existing residents and attracting new activities and residents to the site by retaining key existing structures and intensifying the site.

Cut and Fold Landscape

The site has been structured around the interplay of 2 landscape strategies, that knit the community and civic amenities on the site together. - A ‘civic hard-scape is folded up over the Blackwall Tunnel, decreasing the site’s exposure to noise and air pollution and allowing new pedestrian links to the east - The ‘green soft-scape’ which extends from the centre of Robin Hood Gardens, folding up to meet Blackwall DLR station. This landscape is cut and bridged to allow Poplar High Street to extend eastwards right into the site, and terminating in the new square.

Amenity Routes

Two key routes are proposed to help knit the site into the surrounding area, providing legible access throughout the site and activate the site’s boundary condition. - A recreational boundary route that replaces the defensive wall with activity and occupancy and links together the site’s play and sports areas and pavilions. - A local area route connecting key community and civic amenities arranged across the site and beyond. It links All Saints Church Yard the new mosque and library, the expanded Woolmore school and the pavilions within the new square that house civic functions from the adjacent town hall. To the South, it connects through to the river by New Providence Wharf

Intensification of site

A holistic approach has been taken to intensifying the site, balancing the requirements of existing residents and activities and attracting new residents and program. This involves retaining key existing buildings including the Robin Hood Garden blocks, The Woolmore school building and the majority of the buildings in the Armoury Walk conservation area. Retaining and enhancing elements of the original site is seen as key to ensuring the regeneration is both environmentally and socially sustainable.

Residential accommodation on site The onsite provision meets with the client’s requirement for 1750 dwellings on site with at least 35% affordable. It also allows for the requirement for over 25% of the market accommodation to be of 3 bedrooms or higher.

C. Robin Hood Gardens Building Strategy

The strategy for regenerating the Robin Hood Garden Estate is driven by three main agendas: a. Physical Change – Tackling the fundamental problems of the blocks’ design and introducing further improvements b. Social Change – Creating spaces and frameworks to improve residents’ interaction c. Perceptual Change – Re-addressing the image of these iconic tower blocks so people reconsider them as desirable places to live

The key tactics:

Permeable blocks

We have opened up the blocks at their joining points, reducing the barrier the blocks currently form and re-knitting them into the surrounding landscape. This helps to animate its frontages to the central green space and to the exterior. Community or locally orientated commercial units are placed on the ground floor adjacent to the stair wells adding to the active frontage (for example caretaker/ crèche/ café/ hairdresser).

Re-inhabiting the stairs

We have cut out the original stair cores and inserted new lighter stair wells that encourage inhabitation, occupancy, everyday meeting places. Planted screens sit either side of the stair wells, softening visual impact of the hard edges at the building joint and clearly signalling the points of entrance. The extra rooms of the corner units are opened up into ‘external rooms’, acting part as a landing for the stairs and part as a space the resident can take ownership of with pot plants and garden furniture.

Breaking out from the streets

At the points where the stairs meet the raised streets, small ‘crows-nests’ allowing 2 to 4 people sit and view out towards the city and also back along the striking Smithson’s ‘cliff face’ façade. The crows nests punch through the planted screens, giving these more intimate spaces a degree of separation from the building, and they also help break the monotony of the original ‘streets in the sky’

Balconies and extensions

New extensions protrude out from the central façade, giving the residents an opportunity to add a bay window/ dining space to their kitchen, or a balcony/ external room to their bedroom area. These also make the occupancy pattern of the blocks more readable and animate the facade, especially as lights go on at in the evening. The glazing has been orientated at angles, to cast a pattern of reflections across the façade of the sky and central green space during the day, breaking down the heaviness of the façade and re-addressing the blocks relationship with its surrounding landscape.

Roof Harvest

The stair wells reach right up to the roof, entering through a ‘roof garden shed’ structure. Residents are offered a roof allotment with a shed that views out over the city. Solar panels are located on the shed roofs and each shed holds a water tank and a rain water collector, maximising the roof’s harvesting potential. The sheds are arranged along the outside façade, lending the blocks a new more domestic skyline, and helping to shelter the growing areas.

Active external frontage

The ‘car park moat’ has been covered over, bringing the landscape, and pedestrian access right up to the external façade of the block. To the west, the site’s ‘running route’ runs along the external frontage bringing on-going occupation. The east block looks out over the edge of the new Square. These active spaces give residents an local foreground to view out over to balance the large scale panoramic view of the city.

The community roof rooms

At the southern end of each block a set of community rooms are set on top of the end towers, and are accessible from the allotment areas, stairwells and lifts. These house community function rooms and, in the westerly block, a restaurant using fresh produce from allotments. These new cubes perched at the head of the building also give the blocks an orientation, helping to relate the blocks to the new buildings of the master-plan to the south, and signalling the gateway into the site from the west along the extended Polar High Street.