Open Day at Showflat on Church Road / Brick by Brick

Austerity, and the resulting cuts to local authority budgets, combined with a shortage of housing, are together instrumental in Croydon Council's innovative decision to set up Brick by Brick, a development company of which they are the sole share holder. The company builds a range of property types, some shared ownership, and some rental, with proceeds ploughed back to fund council services, thereby helping to meet local housing needs, while retaining land and profits for the benefit of Croydon residents.
 You may have noticed lots of building sites locally which they are responsible for, including a series of infill blocks stretching from Auckland Road, opposite St. John the Evangelist, up Sylvan Hill, to Church Road. Other sites include a block of flats on the corner of Beulah Hill and Harold Road, along with some townhouses tucked behind, and many more sites stretching across the borough, from Thornton Heath down to Coulsdon. All the aforementioned sites in SE19, were designed by established housing architects, HTA, in a modern but contextual brick style. 
In the Church Road block, there is a 2 bed show flat, fitted out by Brick by Brick's in-house architectural team, Common Ground, with stylish parquet flooring, and beautifully but simply furnished and styled by @supermarket_sarah and Leo Kinder Design. It will be open for public viewing this Saturday, 12th October between 11am and 4pm. Head out of the Triangle on Church Road, and the block is just past Sylvan Hill, on the left.
Local development isn't always popular, but it's good to see a company trying hard to fit in, and building projects of a high design standard.

Church Road Showflat

Church Road exteriors

Ravensdale & Rushden

In another corner of SE19, along the ridge of Beulah Hill is another Brick by Brick development, comprising flats and townhouses. The block offers spectacular views, both north towards the city, and south beyond Croydon towards the Surrey hills.

Rushden Gardens townhouses

For more info and queries, about Brick by Brick, and sales and lettings, visit their website.
Their site includes a very useful FAQs page.

No.4 Gipsy Hill & No.75 Anerley Road

It's an omission which I aim to put right eventually, that I've still not featured the Upper Norwood Library on this blog, although the campaign to save it has been mentioned, as have some of those who have championed its cause. One of the library's supporters is local developer, Neville de Souza. His connection with the library began as a schoolboy, for although he grew up in SW19, as opposed to SE19, he often spent afternoons doing his homework in the library at the end of trips to Crystal Palace to take part in sporting fixtures at the NSC. 
When the ground floor space of one of Neville's local developments, No.75 Anerley Hill, formerly known as the Thicket Tavern, housed a gallery, a percentage of all sales was donated to the library in lieu of paying rent to the gallery space, which was provided entirely free by Neville's company, Lightbox. The company also gets involved with other local initiatives such as West Norwood food bank, and the Dog Kennel Hill Adventure Playground, where they are helping to replace a rundown building with new facilities.
The company's latest project is an early Victorian terraced house, a couple of doors down from Willie Smarts the hairdresser. No.4 Gipsy Hill had been in a pretty poor state, consisting of several bedsits, while the ground floor and basement were used as commercial premises. Initially they thought they'd convert it into 2 apartments, but in the end it was felt that the best way to do justice to such an elegant period building, was to turn it back into a single dwelling. With every project, Lightbox tries to avoid being formulaic, so each one is unique, and considered within its context, whether that be a converted pub or shop, a new build or a traditional terraced house. So at No.4, you won't find endless magnolia walls, but something a little more imaginative. Here's a peek behind the grey front door.

The strikingly dark walls are painted in Farrow & Ball's Stiffkey Blue.

Much of the distinctive midcentury furnishings were sourced locally through the many vintage shops, and the large canvasses were lent by local artist Michael Burles, and are for sale.

Across the Triangle, and a distance down the hill towards Anerley, is the handsome building which was once the Thicket Tavern. Earlier this year I was commissioned by Lightbox to photograph the recent transformation of the ground floor and basement into a stunning apartment. Now, I know it's sad that so many pubs have closed and/or been converted to other uses, but when it was put up for sale in 2009 or thereabouts, there were apparently no offers. I understand the pub had a bit of a reputation which may have dampened any interest. There was a real danger that a developer might have chosen to demolish it entirely and start again. After all it's often cheaper to do this as there is 0% VAT on new build, unlike refurbishment. However, Neville's passion for architecture, and desire to listen to the locals, meant that on buying the building, he was determined to restore and adapt it, and to include a commercial element at ground level. Removing layers of paint from the exterior, revealed not only the fine London brickwork, but also some beautiful Victorian tiling panels. The restored building has made a big difference to the street. The upper floors and rear of the ground floor were all converted into apartments, and for a while the ground floor and basement served as a temporary gallery, as mentioned earlier. Sadly commercial tenants were not forthcoming, and eventually it was decided to seek change of use to residential. It has to be said the resulting duplex apartment is breathtaking, and takes full advantage of the grand scale of the former pub.

Neville de Souza

Lightbox