Varcoe Road

Spacious Communal Spaces

A bright and engaging entrance lobby with an open stair leads to a  communal terrace on the first floor. On the floor above a double height co-working space provides facilities for residents to work outside their flats. Above this a double height sunroom offers a shared living room. Large high-level windows and glazed screens in both of these spaces bring daylight into the adjacent corridors at every level, allowing the spaces to be seen from the residential corridors and encouraging a sense of community. A pair of large landscaped roof terraces with fixed tables and chairs are located on the sixth and seventh floors, providing panoramic views across the city. The south-facing terrace on the top floor and the West facing sunroom are orientated to catch the evening sun.

Varcoe Road is the first project in the London Borough of Southwark for developer Pocket Living, whose aim is to make low-cost home ownership achievable for London’s younger generation. It provides 57 compact affordable homes spread over seven floors. Each Pocket flat is cleverly designed to maximise the feeling of openness and comfort and to provide a functional and attractive first time home.

The project’s brick architecture is articulated into two volumes of differing heights suggesting a rhythm of multiple buildings along the street. Both volumes have generous fenestration in the form of full height windows and Juliet balconies to both living and bedrooms.