Colville Estate towers get go-ahead

Model of towers planned for Colville Estate. Photograph: Karakusevic Carson

Planning permission has been granted for two residential towers to be built on Hoxton’s Colville Estate as part of a major social housing regeneration project led by Hackney Council.

Karakusevic Carson and David Chipperfield won a high-profile competition in 2012, launched by the council, in which architects submitted designs for towers on the Colville Estate in a bid to create more affordable housing in the area.

The towers, reaching 16 and 20 storeys, are part of the third phase of the regeneration of Colville Estate, which will see 925 homes built with 50 per cent affordable housing.

Felton House in Branch Place is set to be demolished and its current residents rehomed in new flats on the estate. Income generated by the sale of private flats in the new towers will be funnelled back into the estate to subsidise social housing.

Colville Estate as it is today. Photograph: Hackney Council

The demolition plans ignited controversy among the estate’s residents last year as many felt the new accommodation they were offered would not be “like for like”.

But many other residents are positive about the plans and Colville Estate Residents & Tenants Association has voiced its support for the regeneration.

Paul Karakusevic, partner at Karakusevic and Carson architects which recently held an exhibition showcasing their social housing designs said: “The taller buildings on the Colville Masterplan provide substantial cross subsidy to help the re-building of over 438 council properties. The project and the wider regeneration has been developed in close consultation with estate residents over the past four years.

“The design team has met local residents over 80 times throughout the design process and each stage of the design has been discussed at a series of workshops and drop in events.”

Cllr Philip Glanville, Hackney Council Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “This is another step forward for Colville’s regeneration, and good to see a petition signed by 219 local residents in favour of the proposals, which will help pay for the new homes for social renting on the estate.”