Providing 124 new affordable homes around a communal courtyard, Plot J will be the first net zero carbon building to be delivered by Be First, Barking and Dagenham’s development company.

Plot J of the Gascoigne East Estate Masterplan provides 124 new affordable homes and will be the first net zero carbon building to be delivered by Be First, Barking and Dagenham’s development company.

Having set an ambitious target to provide 50,000 high quality homes and 20,000 new jobs within the next 20 years, the regeneration of the Gascoigne East Estate forms a major part of Be First’s development programme. Plot J is one of two sites being developed within Phase 3A of the masterplan, following schemes by Levitt Bernstein who completed 381 new homes as part of Phase 1, and White Arkitekter, whose proposals for 526 new homes started on site in 2020.

Plot J takes the form of a perimeter block arranged around a central courtyard garden brought to life by the gallery access walkways that animate the inward facing elevations and encourage neighbourly interactions. The building steps between four-, five- and six-storeys to provide 124 homes, responding to the massing of the adjacent terrace of houses and solar orientation. Providing predominantly family accommodation, Plot J will be 100% affordable, with all homes offered at either Affordable Rent or London Affordable Rent.

Through the incorporation of passive design solutions, including 100% dual aspect flats to maximise cross ventilation and mitigate overheating, high performing building fabric to reduce heating requirements, and the integration of photovoltaics onto all roof spaces, the carbon impact of the building is minimised and running costs kept low. Landscape proposals, developed with Turkington Martin, incorporate green roofs, swales, rain gardens and permeable paving as part of the sustainable urban drainage strategy.

The project is currently being tendered and is due to start on site in 2021.