Groundbreaking event for Maitland Park Estate

To celebrate the redevelopment of the Maitland Park Estate, a groundbreaking event was held on 30th July 2021, attended by key Camden Councillors including Danny Beales, Cabinet Member for Investing in Communities, Culture and an Inclusive Economy, and Rob Bradley, CEO of Bouygues UK which has been appointed to deliver the £40M project.

Designed by Cullinan Studio, the redevelopment will create a vibrant heart for the community with 119 new fit-for-purpose homes in a variety of sizes to suit the housing needs of the Borough. The new homes will be approximately 43% at council rent with 57% private/market sale and will offer fully accessible and adaptable apartments across the development.

Located between Chalk Farm and Belsize Park in the London Borough of Camden, the scheme repairs the Victorian street frontage with a combination of flats and a town house for private purchase on Grafton Terrace. A new community hall, with dedicated garden, commands the corner of the park. The hall will house offices, a large sub-dividable function room for hire, bookable meeting/teaching spaces and a cafe at its heart.

The Aspen House site involves the demolition of an existing nine storey 1970’s slab block, a 1930’s gym and run-down single storey garages. Aspen Court is designed in their place; a five storey courtyard building fronted by Aspen Villas; a six storey mansion block to the park. Here the tenure will be an equal mix of private and social rent.

The courtyard will provide a communal territory landscaped with cherry trees and areas to sit and play for the benefit of all the residents. The development respects existing street frontages, reinforces the frame to the central park with a series of brick buildings, that share common details and forms across the two sites, and uses a pale gault UK brick to tie in with the adjacent stucco rendered terraces and in line with the planners’ requirements for high quality, long-lasting materials. 

Maitland Park is the first project for Camden to target the Homes Quality Mark (HQM) accreditation to ensure each home achieves a high standard of performance and is made of healthy, low carbon materials to ensure occupant health.

The project is also the first Camden Borough scheme to use air-source-heat-pumps with MVHR (so fully electric), combining with an extensive PV array, a building fabric based on PassivHaus principles, and biodiverse roofs to achieve a truly low energy scheme.

Works started on site in March 2021, with completion anticipated in the late summer of 2022.

Alex Abbey, partner at Cullinan Studio said:

“I’m so delighted to see this project, which has been nearly ten years in the making, finally rise out of the ground. We worked hard with the residents and neighbours to design a sensitive infill scheme that responds to the area’s architecture and resets edges to the park and street to respect and reinforce the strength of this close-knit community.”

Councillor Danny Beales, Camden Council Cabinet Member for Investing in Communities, Culture and an Inclusive Economy, said:

“Through our Community Investment programme we are proud to be delivering much needed new council homes in Camden, encompassing all types and tenures, alongside new and improved schools and community spaces where our vibrant communities can thrive.

“We are building homes that meet the highest standards, which are green, modern and have enough space for our families to grow - including at Maitland Park where we are working with residents to deliver 119 new homes, over 50 of which will be available at council rent. Each of the new buildings at Maitland Park will feature biodiverse roofs with solar panels and the estate will also benefit from a new community hall, enhanced green spaces and play and fitness facilities. We look forward to working alongside Bouygues to deliver this investment for our residents.” 

Rob Bradley, CEO of Bouygues UK, said: 

“Given our strong track record of delivering highly successful mixed-tenure housing and urban regeneration schemes, we are very excited to have been selected for this project which will have such a positive impact on the availability of affordable housing in Camden. In partnership with the local authority, we are very proud to be delivering sustainable communities that will make a real difference to the health and wellbeing of residents.”