Location

Woburn House is located at 155-157 Falcon Lane, Clapham Junction on a west-facing peninsular site of 507 sqm. It is bounded on three sides by the roads Falcon Lane, Falcon Road and Mossbury Road, and backs on to the flank of a terrace of houses on Mossbury Road. It is centrally positioned within 30m of Clapham Junction train and bus station.

The site consists of a 6-storey office block filling the front portion of the site, and small car park to the rear. The site has been subject to two previous successful planning applications, however the client now wants to maximise the use of the space to increase profitability and a new Planning Application has recently been submitted to the Local Authority, Wandsworth Borough Council.

The project proposes the extension and refurbishment of the existing building to create a new eight storey hotel containing 70 bedrooms and independent ground floor commercial unit.

Future use of the site as a hotel meets a range of regional Wandsworth Borough objectives and policies. In particular the project offers the Borough contribution to the once in a lifetime opportunity of providing hotel accommodation for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

The external appearance of the proposed building takes its references from the language of adjacent architectural history. To minimise its impact on the street scene and to assist in blending the building into its environment the facades have been broken into vertical and horizontal panels forming different planes to break the surface and provide interest. A muted palate of alternating coloured cladding and glazed panels provides interest and texture in a semi regular pattern.

The treatment of the external appearance of the building has been dictated by the relationship to its location and neighbouring properties. The architects have carefully considered the pattern of the cladding panels and windows to establish a tectonic character.

Whilst the new building is clearly contemporary in form, the architects have attempted to echo the proportions of the local traditional, largely Victorian architecture without denying modernity or creating a pastiche.

I have included a few maps that show the sites location. The way the building looks and the role it will carry out is purely inspired by the surrounding area as well as the need for more apartments to cope with the influx of people coming to see the olympic games in 2012.

The buildings location is vastly beneficial as it is situated right next to both the Clapham Junction train and bus station. 

I managed to visit the site and took the time to document the surrounding area as well as the building that exists on the site at the moment to get a feel for the surroundings and scale of the proposed building. Here are a few images I took that show the different elevations of the existing building and the surrounding area.

Woburn House

For this project I have chosen to work for an architectural practice called Husband and Carpenter Architects Ltd where my mother works as an interior designer. I have chosen to work with an external company for this project so I could get an understanding of the inner workings of a company who deals with architectural design. Although this project will not be animation orientated, it should help me develop my understanding of space and the relationship between the external and interior within a building. This is a valuable opportunity to work closely with a company and at the same time may open up new career paths that I may not have considered before. 

I have been given a building to model and texture that could be shown to potential clients if the build is successful. I aim to build the model to scale taking measurements into consideration. If it is shown to potential clients the measurements have to be exact and must show the relationship between the interior and exterior. The whole point of this project is to produce a model that should convey a realistic sense of space and form.  

The building still needs planning permission and if it is accepted it would be situated in London 155 Falcon Road. The building itself will be called Woburn House. I will be working closely with employees within the company and will be assisted in the projects completion by my brother who will be constructing the exterior of the site. I shall be producing the interior of the building in Maya paying careful attention to detail. To produce a model that will be accurate in its dimensions I will need drawings that illustrate the measurements of the site. Plan, section and elevation drawings will be paramount if the project is to succeed. By importing these images into maya I will be able to model an accurate representation of the site's interior.

Once the building is constructed within a 3d package, my brother and I hope to texture the building using materials that have been specified by the architects and interior designers. By producing a fly through for the site we aim to show off the buildings assets as well as its modern design for future clients.