The Lakes: we won this competition with Ideal Homes and worked with the developer (subsequently Persimmon) to create new waterside housing in the redundant Norway Dock in London's docklands.
It was described in The Buildings of England guide to London Docklands (Pevsner & Cherry) as follows:
‘...it is an imaginative scheme that draws water into its heart by using part of the old Norway Dock, one of the earliest docks in the Surreys, built in 1813 with wooden walls, though the central lake has been created above the level of the infilled dock.
The housing is by Shepheard Epstein Hunter, 1988-1996. ...As if moored round the irregular lake, neat hipped-roofed double villas rest on almost freestanding timber decks.
There is nothing like this elsewhere in England: the peaceful watery effect evokes Scandinavia’
The Civic Trust said:
‘Approached through the acres of banal, suburban boxes that make up most of the Surrey Docks redevelopment, The Lakes is a very pleasant surprise…175 houses and flats have been constructed around a rebuilt lake in a way that achieves an impressive sense of place.
The use of water in the form of the recreated dock unites the development while also acting as a moat between the houses. The scheme is commended for implementing urban design principles to create a private development of real presence and identity.
