Latest phase of ‘Scandi style’ housing estate completes for Barking's 15-minute city regeneration scheme

The Gascoigne Estate regeneration scheme has completed its latest phase, delivering 386 new homes, 60 per cent of which will be set at affordable rent.

Gascoigne West Phase 2 has been designed by architecture studio White Arkitekter according to “Scandinavian urban design principles” that prioritise “equitable living, climate resilience and wellbeing”.

The homes have shared gardens, solar panels, and are linked to a system that sources 69 per cent of its heating needs from heat pumps in the River Roding.

A playground, cycleways and improved pedestrian routes to Barking town centre have been developed according to the 15-minute city concept,where daily amenities are arranged within easy reach of people’s homes.

Barking and Dagenham’s urban regeneration company, Be First, is overseeing the estate revamp as part of the effort to transform the east London area.

“This project gave us the opportunity to improve the quantity and quality of housing available for local people in Barking and enable aparadigm shift in how the public spaces can be used,” said White Arkitekter partner Linda Theil, who described the project as “a move from estate to neighbourhood”.

The new homes are arranged in five apartment blocks that range from nine to 20 storeys in height, along with a series of three-storey townhouses. A tenure-blind system will mix affordable rented homes with privately owned homes, rather than segregating the residents according to income.

Affordable rent is set lower than the local market average and made available to people on lower incomes. Ten per cent of the homes have also been designed as wheelchair accessible.

Along with the 1,500 sq ft playground, West Phase 2 includes play spaces dotted around the new public realm, with priority given to pedestrians over cars. As part of an earlier phase of the regeneration, White Arkitekter worked with girls from the local Greatfields School to design a new route from the school to the park that prioritised the girls’ feelings of safety and enjoyment.

Built during the post war housing boom in the Sixties, the Gascoigne Estate’s towers and lower rise blocks had been allowed to deteriorate. Be First is overseeing an estate regeneration scheme where most of the old buildings are being demolished to make way for new build homes.

“The completion of West Phase 2 is a significant milestone,” said Tim Porter, delivery director at Be First.

“The transformation of the neighbourhood has focused on placemaking, affordability, sustainability and community impact to create safe, warm, and affordable housing and turn the area into a highly desirable place for people to live.”

Another wing of the Gascoigne Estate regeneration scheme made headlines last year after a balcony collapsed in Weavers Quarter. Built by Bouygues for housing association L&Q and Barking and Dagenham council, Weavers Quarter completed in 2019 and comprises of 414 mixed-tenure homes.