Kaolin Court

Evolving the housing typology to offer new ways of living
"Never have I felt more connected to the environment and community we live in."

Kaolin Court, designed for a small ethical developer, creates nine new homes set around a shared outdoor amenity. The project expands on our earlier Forest Mews scheme, demonstrating the scalability of the principles of sociable architecture: developments which prioritise the social aspects of new builds to create opportunities for new communities to grow and thrive.

Key to its success is the provision of quality shared space that encourages interaction. Private and public thresholds are carefully mediated, allowing residents to engage in as much communal activity as they want, but also allowing for retreat. Non-lineated space provides a sense of belonging and community, with planting and ponds rather than fences used to delineate space and gently create defensible areas in front of windows. There is a delicacy of light and landscape but homes are hard-wearing, low maintenance and affordable to run.

An integrated approach to sustainability has considered natural ventilation, passive cooling, overheating, internal daylight levels, flood-risk, home-working, community and ecology. The building exceeds the RIBA 2030 climate challenge targets.
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Roof-forms were created using solar modelling, and allow sunlight into the shared courtyard and ground floors. A timber frame with vaulted ceilings and ground floor thermal mass creates warmth in the winter and cool in the summer. A high-performance building envelope includes low u-values, triple glazing, and low air-permeability. The courtyard itself features sensitive landscaping with planting and ponds to enhance well-being, biodiversity and opportunities for creative play.
Completed just before Covid, Kaolin Court provided a welcome respite for its residents from the isolation that many experienced during lockdown, and supports this community in many aspects of life from parenting to home working. The current households at Kaolin Court are 30% with children (all single parents), and 36% BAME, reflecting the local population.

Kaolin Court demonstrates a different housing model which supports new ways of living, with opportunity for community and has been included by Lewisham Local Authority as an exemplar in its SPD.
Project book shelf