Sunday Mills, Earlsfield, Wandsworth

2024 RIBA London Award

Sunday Mills, Earlsfield, Wandsworth
Assael Architecture for DTZ Investors & Halcyon Development Partners
Contract value: £34.7m
GIA: 11,166m²
Cost per m²: £3,108

This 315-apartment development in the suburb of Earlsfield moves the conversation forward on how to produce wonderful places to live and work, in a diverse world of different circumstances. Its innovative shared-living model provides comfortable, if modest, private living spaces, while granting access to incredible facilities for the residents, from ‘Masterchef’ style kitchens to a range of lounge spaces and very high-quality shared workspace. Inside and out, the form and materiality of the architecture sensitively reference the riverside setting’s industrial past. The architect has ingeniously resolved the site’s many constraints and efficiently composed living areas with daylit corridors, while creating the many and varied generous facilities throughout. The result is an elegant example of how the needs for density, sustainability and social value can all be delivered at once.

Standing on a constrained triangular site enclosed by the River Wandle, railway lines, and a Travellers’ community, the building is large compared to the immediate context. However, its mass is broken down into varied volumes by using different coloured bricks, heights and roof profiles, so that it successfully integrates with its surroundings. Drawing on the river’s industrial heritage value, it features a factory-like varied roof form, warm tones of red brick, and Crittall-style metal windows. The industrial references continue inside, where exposed metalwork and bare concrete surfaces reinforce the concept.

The provision of excellent shared amenities aims to encourage social interaction and community building as well as offering opportunities for leisure activities that would normally require travel and payment. Residents enjoy easy, free access to a cinema, full gym, yoga studios and allotment planters for community food growing. The model is not unique, but the quality and execution of this project allow the concept to shine, proving the benefits of this living style.

The building also benefits the surrounding community, with large areas of the ground floor open for neighbours and local businesses in the form of a café, shared workspaces with bookable rooms, and community use spaces. As part of the project, the local community was engaged to understand its needs, and it is clear that these voices were instrumental in shaping the final design.

The building was granted planning approval in 2019 and displays an impressive approach to embodied carbon. Elements of the existing foundations and slab were retained, basements and false ceilings avoided, and bare, self-finishing materials used throughout. This also has benefits for the building’s operational energy, with natural ventilation used for all apartments and exposed concrete soffits assisting with cooling through thermal mass. Elements of off-site prefabrication also reduced site waste substantially. In addition, the development is gas free, and uses air-source heat pumps partially powered by the 157m² of on-site solar panels for heating.