Continuity has been the success of the project, says Alex Ely, founding director of Mae. Were standing by the third phase of Agar Grove, the largest estate regeneration scheme in the UK to aim for the Passivhaus standard. As were shown around, the five of us including Ely and Hawkins\Brown partner Phil Catcheside are followed by a large cohort from contractor Hill Partnerships, whose excitement at seeing the latest phase realised is palpable, stopping for photographs at every key moment. The project team has largely remained the same throughout the estates 12-year-long phased development, so its no surprise that theyre delighted.A scheme not yet reviewed by the AJ until now, despite its lengthy programme, Agar Grove is a flagship (and largest) project for Camden Councils Community Investment Programme, an ambitious plan to invest in schools, homes and community facilities across the borough their answer to government spending cuts, as it says on the councils website. Its also part of a 2.3 billion programme of local authority-led investment in the borough intended to unlock the delivery of 4,850 homes.The 2.57ha masterplan of which just over half had been completed as of 2024 has been led by Hawkins\Brown with Mae, and with Grant Associates as landscape architect. It has involved the rebuilding of a 249-home estate dating from 1966, just north-east of Camden Town. This originally comprised a series of low to medium-rise blocks clustered around a 19-storey tower, built as part of the 1960s Camden Town Project under Sydney Cook, the borough architect from 1965 to 1973. Phase 1a of the regeneration masterplan reached completion in 2018 and families from the original estate moved into the first 38 new council homes that spring.AdvertisementThe 120 million development, once complete, will include 496 new homes double the number of the estates original 249. Of these, 205 are for social rent, 69 intermediate and 222 for private sale. A detailed planning application for the overhaul which also included retail, business and community space was submitted in 2014, with the aim of demolishing 112 of the existing houses, along with plans for retrofitting the central 56m-tall Lulworth House tower block. The 25,600m2 regeneration includes terraced family houses, maisonettes with gardens and flats. To date 220 homes have been built, mainly across perimeter blocks.Hawkins\Brown and Mae were selected for the job ahead of bids from BPTW, Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands, Pollard Thomas Edwards and PRP with BDP to land the significant scheme in 2013. Urban Splash was also appointed as development adviser to work on proposals for the tower refurbishment, drawing on its experience of working on the (twice) Stirling Prize-shortlisted Park Hill development in Sheffield.The Agar Grove scheme is notable for its Passivhaus ambitions but also for the extent of its engagement with residents. The existing tenants have all been retained, says Ely, adding that a government grant of 6.89 million has also enabled the council to acquire 29 more homes for refugees that were originally up for private sale. Residents were surveyed beforehand to ensure their new homes met their future needs. And the phased approach to the development has allowed them to watch their homes being built before moving in, in a single decant. It was a bit like a jigsaw to integrate the homes of returning residents, recalls Ely.Phase 1c consists of two buildings with courtyards to the north of the site and a new avenue connecting to the retained Lulworth House tower and Agar Childrens Centre and Family Hub. The blocks contain 125 one, two and three-bedroom flats and two-storey, two-bedroom maisonettes, in addition to three-bedroom wheelchair-accessible maisonettes. Space for a popular barbers shop also brings a vibrant use to the corner of the larger block.The blocks have active frontages with double-height shared entrances and single-height entrances to maisonettes which line the street-side elevations. Bedrooms are placed either at first floor level or facing onto the semi-private courtyard gardens. All entrances have a view to the courtyard, something emphasised by the architects as Im shown round, both Ely and Catcheside agreeing that transparency of the lobbies was a priority. The open visual connection between the courtyards, lobbies and streets makes these shared circulation spaces feel more generous and equitable for all tenants.AdvertisementExternally, the latest blocks are finished in a high-quality, purple-tinged brick laid in varying courses, plus glass-reinforced concrete faade materials to complement the Camden context and help unify the development. Attention has particularly been given to entrances, where the double-height brickwork steps back to form tapered reveals, creating a sense of grandeur. At a time when cost is the main limitation in housebuilding, simple but beautiful moves such as these add to the longevity of a building.There are a few nods to Camdens history of modernist architecture, including external columns and low-rise fences. Previous phases have also drawn on this heritage: one block, completed in an unusual tan brick, flips the maisonette around and steps back in the style of Neave Browns Alexandra Estate.Everything that has worked before, weve done again, says Ely. Learning lessons from previous phases, the thermal envelope of the larger building has been simplified, reducing extremities that are exposed to the elements to aid airtightness. Any recessed balconies that are not at the buildings corners have glazing added to create what Catcheside calls solariums. Fitted with large, triple-glazed windows, two thirds of the window area in these spaces can be opened to create something halfway between a winter garden and a conservatory, but more adaptable and climate-resilient. Its a hybrid, says Catcheside. Simply delineated by a change in floor finish, this space is flexible, giving tenants options in how they use their flats, which have been designed to slightly higher space standards than the norm.These new homes, expected to achieve Passivhaus certification, will reduce heating bills by up to 70 per cent compared with the previous outdated stock all part of Camdens drive to tackle fuel poverty. Designing to Passivhaus principles keeps the learning curve up, Catcheside explains. He adds that, on the next phase, the heating system will change from a centralised system to individual dwelling systems, which only operate when individual homes need them.The rest of the masterplan, developed in collaboration with Agar Groves residents, is based on traditional streets and squares, with an emphasis on creating liveable spaces between homes and improving pedestrian routes across the site. The aim is to stitch the formerly disconnected estate into the wider urban grain of bustling Camden. The estate feels exceptionally safe and family-oriented as you walk around, with cooking facilities and trampolines dotted around the shared courtyards. Once fully complete, there will be a third more affordable floor space on the estate, helping to tackle overcrowding. Here as elsewhere, it has been the sale of private homes on the estate that has allowed the council to fund the build of more council homes for families on the councils waiting list an all too familiar tactic.All ground-floor flats and maisonettes have private gardens and some flats at 1-15 Milburn Lane have access to a roof terrace. Alongside the communal gardens and childrens playgrounds there are residents growing areas. Exterior planting has been developed to support a site-wide SuDs system and roof garden planting provides a mosaic of habitat types to promote biodiversity.Last to complete in the plan will be the revamp of Lulworth House, still served by its own shop and caf, at the centre of the site. First approved in 2014, this part of the scheme is still undergoing design changes affected by changes to the Building Regulations and isnt expected to finish until 2030.Agar Groves site is adjacent to two intersecting railway lines which run between it and the new neighbourhood at King's Cross. As part of Camdens drive not only to provide quality homes for borough residents but also to create communities that are economically and socially resilient, the borough is also regenerating two light industrial parks on Camley Street, which starts at Agar Grove and runs south towards one of Londons main transport hubs. The project is a commercial-led scheme featuring housing plus life sciences facilities to inject new employment opportunities into what will become a key route.Agar Grove is a high-quality scheme whose incremental and steady build has been efficient (luckily there have been few setbacks) as well as forward-looking. Keeping the same project team on the scheme throughout has allowed learnings to be applied at subsequent stages and open dialogue with residents has meant the jigsaw of homes has been effectively pieced together. Its a testament to a strong masterplan and vision that has been carefully planned. It shows that continuity really is essential for regeneration.Project dataStart on siteJanuary 2021CompletionJune 2024Gross internal floor area7,491m2Construction cost41.4 million (all works for this phase)ArchitectHawkins\Brown Architects and Mae ArchitectsExecutive architectHawkins\Brown ArchitectsClient London Borough of CamdenStructural engineerPeter Brett Associates (Stage 3), Price & Myers (delivery)M&E consultantMax FordhamQuantity surveyorArcadisProject managerArcadisApproved building inspectorLondon Borough of CamdenMain contractor Hill PartnershipCAD software usedRevitAnnual CO2 emissions 10.9 kgCO2/m2Passivhaus consultantMax FordhamPassivhaus certifierWarmPlanning consultantCMA PlanningSustainability dataOn-site energy generation 27,884 kWh/yr (calculated value)Heating and hot water loadBuilding I: 18.1 kWh/m2/yr; Building JKL: 14.6 kWh/m2/yr (calculated value, electrical input energy)Total energy load Building I: 48.8 kWh/m2/yr; Building JKL: 46.0 kWh/m2/yr (calculated values)Carbon emissions (all) 10.9 kgCO2/m2/yr (calculated value)Annual mains water consumption105 litres/person/day (estimated value)Airtightness at 50Pa Building I: 1.02 m3/hr/m2; Building JKL: 1.22 m3/hr/m2 (measured values)Overall thermal bridging heat transfer coefficient (Y-value) Building I: 0.04 W/m2/K; Building JKL: 0.03 W/m2/K(calculated values)Overall area-weighted U-value Building I: 0.25 W/m2/K; Building JKL: 0.27 W/m2/K (calculated values)Embodied/whole-life carbonNot assessedPredicted design life60 years