REGENT’S PARK ROAD

REGENT’S PARK ROAD, FINCHLEY

Our proposals seek the replacement of a very ordinary 1930s house with an apartment building that makes far better use of a prominent townscape position. The site lies just north of Henly’s Corner, the intersection of the A1 with the North Circular, and three quarters of a mile south of Finchley Central underground station. We sensed that the area could have a certain prominence currently belied by the relatively small-scale of some of the existing buildings in the neighbourhood. Grand and broad avenues, we feel, are better suited to apartment blocks than to 1930s semi-detached houses.

Our scheme develops this potential for elegance and understated grandeur with distinctive lines and a dynamic form and takes advantage of the corner plot with a prominent but considered massing. The materials, light, stock brick, pre-cast concrete and painted metal balustrades, are relatively muted in the service of characterful, finely-detailed and well-proportioned elevations. The design concept is rational and legible, consisting of a base, characterised by massiness and solidity, a middle section, more open and more articulated, but nonetheless restrained, and a top storey that increases decorative density and features a distinctive cornice, lending urbanity to the composition.  

We have taken advantage of the steep east-west slope running through the site, where the rear is around a storey higher than the main frontage, to make most efficient use of the plot without sacrificing design quality or liveability. Nine residential dwellings are proposed, each with aspect, airiness and private amenity. The project has recently been submitted to the London Borough of Barnet and we anticipate a decision in early 2024.