The manufacturer is supporting dRMM’s contribution to the theme ‘Home/Away: Five British architects build housing in Europe’, which will include models, images and reference material, and will be open to the public between September 14th and November 23rd.
Wansey Street Housing is a 31-unit demonstration project for Southern Housing Group as part of the Elephant and Castle regeneration masterplan. dRMM chose Cedral Weatherboard as cladding material and their imaginative use of this established product helped meet the challenges of filling an existing gap site between different typologies and different brick colours.
By mounting Cedral Weatherboard vertically in a graduated, striped composition of specially selected colours – a progression from canary yellow to vermillion - the façade links buff-coloured, London stock Victorian terrace and red brick former town hall. As well as referencing the neighbouring buildings on the street, the colour scheme supports cohesion and identity within this ‘pepper-potted’ mix of private and social housing.
As part of the masterplan for Elephant and Castle, a new public square is planned for the site opposite Wansey Street Housing. The scheme will then form the south east corner of the square, and will be a bright and colourful landmark in the locality.
Marley Eternit marketing manager Ian Barclay said: “We are absolutely delighted that a development featuring one of our cladding materials has been selected to help highlight the best in British housing at such a prestigious exhibition.”
Alex de Rijke, dRMM director, added: "dRMM like to make special buildings from industry and market constraints, using generic components in particular ways. Both Wansey Street and No. One Centaur Street housing projects use Marley Eternit's Cedral and are examples of our lateral 'off the shelf' design method. We are delighted with the outcome and to be included in the 'Home/Away' exhibition."
The exhibition of Wansey Street Housing will be displayed alongside other dRMM housing projects, including ongoing work in Norway. Curated this year by internationally esteemed architecture critic, Ellis Woodman, these projects were chosen for their potential to elucidate differences between housing cultures in Britain and elsewhere in Europe.