WGI were approached by John Paul Construction for the production stage of the mixed use retail and residential development in the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Chelsea Creek is a development consisting of a 25 storey tower and an 8 storey building providing 96 residential units.

Working closely with façade specialists, other consultants and suppliers, WGI developed the full technical design of the superstructure and external envelope. It involved a rigorous examination of the different façade components, both in terms of individual performance and their ability to integrate with each other and the superstructure to form a high quality building envelope. It also included working closely with the fit-out architects in relation to the key junctions with the external façade to meet regulations in terms of thermal performance, fire and sound.

Location: Chelsea, London

Client: John Paul Construction, St George

Value: £21m

Service: Architecture: Technical Design, Construction (Envelope and Superstructure)

Following previous successful collaborations with Balfour Beatty, WGI were approached regarding works on Providence Tower that is part of the riverside development New Providence Wharf in Blackwall, London. WGI’s significant experience in large scale housing regeneration projects lead to their involvement in the redesign and fit-out of the 12-storey bar building along with support on the 44-storey tower for Genesis Housing Association.

The client’s brief consisted of a redesign of all 116 affordable apartments to improve compliance with both statutory and residential design standards, as well as the client’s own specific design requirements. Following an audit and redesign, WGI then developed the full technical design for all of the flats, excluding the façade, in conjunction with the architects for the overall development.

The project was delivered using BIM implementation and successfully achieved Code for Sustainable Homes Level 3.

Location: Blackwall, London

Client: Balfour Beatty, Ballymore Group, Genesis HA

Value: £110m

Service: Architecture, Interiors: Developed and Technical Design, Construction (Internal Areas)

WGI were appointed by St George’s NHS Foundation Trust to design the masterplan for a major reconfiguration of their acute trauma hospital. WGI recognised that an area of the Trust’s site alongside the designated masterplan area had significant development potential without compromising the increase in capacity required for the Trust’s future healthcare needs. Following an initial design analysis WGI decided to take a more radical approach in view of the planner’s positive response to their proposals for the hospital masterplan. The goal was to maximise the development potential of the land through a mix ofuses which not only generated much needed income but also benefited the Trust in terms of outsource facilities, and supportingexpansion for research, university and clinical accommodation. The WGI initiative was welcomed by the Trust and a planning pre-application process is pending. The concept design not only provides significant additional healthcare related accommodation, such as step down facilities but enhances the hospital facilities through the new masterplan with extensive support facilities for the 9000 students and staff on the campus.

Location: Tooting, London

Client: St George’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust/Yellow Brick Development

Value: £200m

Service: Masterplanning, Architecture: Concept

WGI were approached by a developer to investigate the potential for a site next to the future Crossrail station in Ilford, East London. Being located at a transport hub provided the opportunity for not just a high density tall building but also to expand towards a wider masterplan for the larger urban block and the new station entrance.
Due to the shape and size of the site WGI introduced a more dramatic building geometry in order to get daylight into the heart of the site and give good commercial presence at street level. This made the site and its immediate hinterland more permeable and accessible. The 28 storey building accomodates between 200 and 300 units depending on the tenure and mix. There are also two levels of retail located at its base, opening directly on to Ilford Hill and the station next door.

Location: Ilford, London
Client: Confidential
Value: £60m
Service: Architecture: Masterplanning/Feasibility

WGI were initially appointed by Countryside Properties to develop a design for their bid for the regeneration and redevelopment of an existing site in east London. The design involved the reconfiguration of a part developed design for Poplar Harca and as a result a series of options were developed with approximately 500 residential units split into phases 1 and 2.

Having won the bid WGI then completed the developed design for the phases 1A and 1B, the planning process for the residential units, community centre and communal landscaped area and undertook the technical design for construction. The development was developed in consultation with a range of key stakeholders, and included a mix of tenures, both affordable rent and private for sale, as well as a community centre and office facilities. The goal was to achieve major community benefits and deliver a high quality, affordable scheme which encouraged existing residents to remain in the area while attracting new residents from elsewhere. The solution was a wide variety of housing types, with a combination of one and two bedroom flats, to provide a balanced and mixed community. The new development also offered a significant amount of family sized units for social rent which enabled people to remain part of the neighbourhood through their changing circumstances.

Location: Mile End East, London

Client: Countryside Properties, Poplar Harca

Value: £56m

Service: Architecture, Interiors: Developed and Technical Design, Construction

WGI were appointed by Kier as Executive Architects on the redevelopment of a site overlooking Finsbury Park in Hackney. The new development replaced five Georgian villas with 130 apartments in 6 blocks which ranged from 3 to 6 storeys arranged around a landscaped parking and service courtyard.

The redevelopment of the site was particularly sensitive due to the scale and character of the Seven Sisters Road frontage and its relationship with Finsbury Park immediately to the north west. The impact of this on the development of the technical design was significant, particularly in relation to building height.

WGI took the project from Stage D through to completion. Due to client changes to the design, WGI also had to secure a further planning approval for the scheme as a whole in parallel with completing the technical design.

Location: Hackney, London

Client: Kier Partnership Homes Ltd. for Paradigm Housing Association

Value: £14.5m

Service: Architecture: Technical Design, Planning Design

WGI were approached by the developer, Connaught, to prepare a feasibility study for a corner frontage site in Lambeth currently occupied by a four storey office building.
Based on the redevelopment proposals achieved on adjoining sites WGI proposed a six storey building comprising retail, 30 flats and a communal roof garden. By exploiting the main frontage on Clapham Road to its full extent and using a combination of different building elements, WGI were able to maximise the density of the site, create a celebratory corner to the urban block as well as respect the scale of the surrounding buildings and streetscape.

Location: Stockwell, London
Client: Connaught
Value: £13m
Service: Architecture: Feasibility

Gainsborough Studios, located on the bank of the Regency Canal in London's Shoreditch, was originally built as a power station and subsequently used as warehousing, then film studios. WGI were appointed as executive architect to develop the technical design for the extension of the existing building and adding two stylish new blocks. The £35 million development of new build and façade retention provided a high density complex of mixed tenure and mixed use including 256 flats, offices, shops, a film editing studio and underground car park.
WGI provided full construction design, secured statutory approvals and co-ordinated all design, including development of key areas such as interfaces between car park, underground railway and canal, fire strategy and mixed use areas.
Dramatic features reflect the building's cultural heritage, reinforced by WGI's trademark detailed execution - acknowledged as being instrumental in winning three design awards.

Location: Shoreditch, London

Client: YJL Construction (for Lincoln Holdings)

Value: £35m

Service: Architecture: Technical Design, Construction

Colindale Hospital, in North London, closed its doors in 2004. Following a competitive bid process, WGI was appointed by Fairview New Homes Ltd as architect and lead consultant for the production stage of the £70 million, 4.3 hectare mixed tenure redevelopment comprising 714 new apartments and houses on the site of the old hospital. The firm's role included a design audit to ensure compliance, and securing statutory approval and coordination of all relevant design standards.
New build elements range from three storey houses through to ten storey apartment blocks, whilst nine units were built within a refurbished, listed early 1900s administration building. A combined heat and power biomass plant provides hot water, which together with brown/green roofs enables all apartments to meet Sustainable Homes Code Level 3 and all of the Houses Code Level 4.
An impressive, brand new urban quarter was created in what was the largest scheme at that time for the client. Through the technical design, processes and procedures were established for supply chain procurement over larger, longer-term building contracts.
 

Location: Edgware, London

Client: Fairview New Homes

Value: £70m

Service: Architecture: Technical Design, Construction

Lymington Fields was part of the Government-backed London Wide Initiative conceived to fast-track affordable housing to key workers within the London area. Countryside Properties, having won an OJEU with Metropolitan Housing Trust, selected WGI to provide full architectural design - including masterplanning - working collaboratively with another practice.
The land was a large but very restricted brown field site located between existing residential and industrial areas. The combined design team created a proposal regenerating the site into a pleasant and vibrant new 600-unit community with a strong emphasis on low rise, mixed tenure traditional family housing and high quality public and private open spaces. At the heart of the redevelopment proposals are a primary school and community health facility. Environmental considerations are also to the fore, with 20% renewables used, photovoltaic energy and a biomass boiler.
The £65 million project demonstrated successful collaborative working between the various stakeholders through the many challenges of a complex procurement process.

Location: Lymington Fields, Essex

Client: Countryside Properties

Value: £65m

Service: Architecture: Masterplanning, Full Design

Market Estate was a declining 1960s local authority, mid-rise estate suffering from antisocial behaviour, increasing crime and a failing structure. When Southern Housing Group appointed WGI to produce the architectural design and as lead consultant coordinating the design team, the objective was to not only provide modern housing stock, but equally to bring together a deeply divided community.
Throughout the design development process WGI engaged with the estate's residents as well as the wider community and users of nearby Caledonian Park, in an extensive consultation process. All existing buildings were completely demolished, with the building and demolition sequence progressing without having to decant residents away from the estate. 359 new homes with a traditional street pattern and street frontages were complemented by a revitalised public park centred around a historic clock tower.
The award-winning, revitalised Market Estate was regarded one of London's most successful estate stock transfers, bringing together the community in pleasant, safe and harmonious surroundings, in which the public engagement process played a pivotal role.

Location: Holloway, London

Client: Southern Housing Group

Value: £47m

Service: Architecture: Concept and Developed Design

Hackney's Nightingale Estate was part of a major regeneration programme across the London borough. The original 1970's estate had suffered from systemic deprivation and breakdown in the sense of community. WGI's brief included setting new standards for the design and construction of the new homes, and fully embracing the government's twin drive for regeneration and innovation. The firm's experience of housing and construction in the Netherlands was an important credential.
Built over 11 phases in a combination of refurbishment and new build and with 8 phasescompleted, the regenerated, award-winning estate is an 'urban village' consisting of a low rise, high density mixed-tenure development comprising 650 new houses and flats in a traditional street pattern. Development was phased to enable the community to remain intact. Innovative building materials and construction techniques were employed including the first use of tunnel form based construction in a UK housing scheme. From the outset, WGI's participation in full stakeholder engagement helped secure residents' approval to proceed with proposals to provide a contemporary and safe place to live.

Location: Hackney, London

Client: Southern Housing & Countryside Properties.

Value: £75m

Service: Architecture: Full Design

The Wellington Street Development was the first phase of a major community led regeneration programme planned for the Somerstown area of Portsmouth, an 89 hectare neighbourhood dominated by a mix of 19th century terraced housing and post war public sector housing.

The site, although relatively small in area, was seen by the Council as a gateway project at the northern edge of the regeneration area. It was essentially an underused car park which gave no presence or active frontage to Winston Churchill Avenue, a major vehicular thoroughfare around the city centre.

The design provided affordable homes, with a mix of houses and flats, along with some retail below the flats. The site layout was restricted by the need to retain certain underground services and maintenance zones, including a major bypass sewer. The design of the three storey housing presented a particular challenge blending the domestic scale with the larger surrounding buildings in terms of townscape, with varied gable roof forms used to accentuate height towards the University buildings to the west.

Location: Portsmouth, Hampshire

Client: Kier, City of Portsmouth.

Value: £5m

Service: Architecture: Full Design  

Lewis Gardens was a crumbling 1950s estate unsuitable for renovation when Southern Cross Housing Group took it over under the ERCF (Estates Renewal Challenge Fund). WGI was tasked with full architectural design and masterplanning for its redevelopment - to feature a mix of unit types, sizes and tenures and innovative construction techniques. Equally important was the need to create an integrated community targeting a broad spectrum of local residents. Some housing was specifically designed in conjunction with Agudas Israel Housing Association for the orthodox Jewish community, with whom WGI worked closely.
A feature central landscaped square provided a green focal point and amenity space for residents. Landscaped seating areas, a toddlers' play area and a court facility for teenagers were also incorporated.
Innovative construction methods included the use of a highly developed prefabricated timber system to reduce energy wastage. As Lewis Gardens is on the edge of a political boundary, WGI had to work with two planning authorities. The result: a new London square giving a new heart to a community.
 

Location: Stamford Hill, London

Client: Southern Housing Group

Value: £16m

Service: Architecture: Full Design

WGI was appointed by a national housebuilder to design a commercially viable, £5 million scheme on land occupied by a well-established plant nursery that comprised a large greenhouse and areas for open storage, with a small parking area. The plan was for a development of 44 self-contained studio, one-bed and two-bed flats in two and three-storey buildings, complete with 46 car parking spaces, cycle parking and landscaping. A key requirement was for the scheme to look suburban in character.

Working as lead consultant co-ordinating the design team, and having liaised with local residents and other stakeholders WGI produced architectural designs sympathetic with an adjacent ancient woodland site and protected the natural habitat – urban in scale yet suburban in character, owing not least to use of a heavily landscaped deck above the parking area. 

Location: Chingford, London

Client: Barratt Homes

Value: £5m

Service: Architecture: Planning Design

WGI were approached by Rydon Construction for the architectural design of a new 25 extra care homes on the site of a former vicarage and existing outdated sheltered accommodation.
The initial studies were to maximise the use of the site to generate surplus development in the form of housing for sale which cross-subsidised the new extra care accommodation. The challenge was to maximise the cross-subsidy without compromising the quality of the remaining site for the extra care homes and within an historic green suburban setting on the edge of Burgess Hill town centre.
In creating a complex of individual 1 and 2 bedroom flats, comprising both new buildings and the conversion of the old vicarage, WGI managed to successfully break down the massing  to reflect the local suburban character and link most parts of the complex despite a significant slope across the site. The buildings are arranged around a landscaped courtyard and include common facilities such a lounge, restaurant, laundry and guest facilities.

Location: Burgess Hill, Sussex
Client: Rydon Construction, Chichester Diocesan Housing Association
Value: £2m
Service: Architecture: Full Design

The design for this 33,500m² development won a nationwide competition launched by Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council. The scheme - to include restaurants, cafés, bars, multiplex cinema, shops, hotel, car parking and 324 apartments - is part of a major urban regeneration project at Gateshead Quays Phase 2 site on the banks of the Tyne. Submitted by WGI in conjunction with Kier Property, the proposal beat heavy competition.
The brief called for the creation of a link between - and appropriate urban setting for - two iconic buildings, the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Arts and The Sage Gateshead. It had to provide a wide range of facilities to create a new cultural and commercial heart. The winning design also had to be commercially viable and deliverable.
WGI's design overcame considerable challenges, including creating a family-friendly pedestrian environment despite a 25 metre change of level across the site, and providing an ecologically-designed landscape whilst retaining the strong urban context and paying homage to the site's industrial heritage.

Location: Gateshead, Tyne & Wear

Client: Kier Property Group for Gateshead MBC

Value: £100m

Service: Architecture: Feasibility/Bid Design

WGI were appointed to provide technical advice to the Shropshire County Council in the development of a new community and social services facilities for older people and adults with learning disabilities. 
Provding a new model of care home, Shropshire Care Homes are based on the principle of a ‘one-stop-shop’ and providing services through joint resource centers. This allowes them to offer a range of services for the wider community.
The scheme inluded new community facilities, a new library and Shropshire disability consortium at Harlescott and Sundorne. It also included improving facilities for adults with learning disabilities and some community services (i.e., nursery) at Monkmoor and Market Drayton resource centre
Facility for older people and adults with learning disabilities as well as 20 place intermediate care facility in partnership with PCT and a 40 bed nursing home in partnership with PCT at South Shropshire.

Location: Shropshire
Client: Shropshire City Council
Value: £17m
Service: Architecture: