Rehearsal Rooms

Emerging practice, Newground Architects, was established in 2013 and has already delivered several complex urban residential and mixed-use developments including two exemplar schemes, Rehearsal Rooms and Material Store. The Practice’s ethos is to produce resourceful design through a collaborative approach, creating environments for contemporary living, by taking cues from the past whilst being mindful of the future.

Freshfield Lane First Quality Multi bricks were specified across the façades of Rehearsal Rooms in North Acton, London, complemented by Selected Dark bricks used on the link block window panels. This 173-unit development got its name from the previous custodian of this site, the BBC rehearsal studios.

This mixed-use project includes a supermarket and a cafe, and comprises two blocks of 16 and 13 storeys, linked by a four-storey bridge. Generously sized private balconies create visual interest and connections in the modest brick façade whilst acting as extensions to internal living space. The architects have cleverly designed the additional levels with the same external materials and details as the lower levels so as to appear a seamless extension, though they have used a lightweight steel structure and brick slip cladding in contrast to the concrete frame and solid brick façade below.

Newground Architects commented: “The richly coloured brick was selected for its hand-made appearance and warm mix of red, purple and orange hues, as well as for its technical properties of resistance to moisture and frost. Thanks to the lively variety of colours, the brick appears surprisingly different under different daylight conditions, adding visual and tactile interest to the architectural form and massing. A limited palette of robust materials and a strong sense of relief is accentuated by the full brick reveal to evoke solidity and permanence.”