Curtain Place
Mainstreaming cross-laminated timber
Status
Completed
2015
Client
Gold Section Homes
Budget
£4.1 Million
RIBA workstages
Concept to Completion
Curtain Place is a six-storey development situated through a narrow entrance in the heart of Shoreditch. The use of a hybrid steel and CLT structure ensured that this scale of project could be undertaken to a high standard, despite the constricted access.
The first three storeys project onto a planted courtyard, and form a workspace element, clad in dark brickwork and zinc. Above this, stepped back in line with neighbouring buildings are three residential floors, demarcated with white brick.
Steel columns and beams on the lower floors carry the transfer loads of the setback structure, whilst the CLT building core, floor slabs and external walls vastly reduce its weight.
The exposed modern timber and steel engineering give the workspaces a contemporary, stripped-down feel, and sawtooth glazing maximises views back onto Curtain Road.
The discrete, set back residential floors house nine south-facing apartments, built entirely from timber. The stepped form gives access to a shared outdoor balcony with views out onto east London.
