A wander around Wapping and Rotherhithe’s Postmodern housing
Despite having lived in London for 27 years, I’d never been to Rotherhithe until a couple of months ago when I was researching my most recent Perambulation — Denmark Hill to Rotherhithe. I’m embarrassed to admit it because it’s not as it is miles out of central London. On the contrary, it’s just in Zone 2 and just beyond Tower Bridge. I suppose it’s because it’s one of those areas that you don’t really need to go through to get to somewhere else — which makes it even better for it in my opinion. During my Rotherhithe recce, I discovered Elephant Lane — a 1980s development by the River Thames. The scheme was the response to a competition for new housing to replace dilapidated warehouses. The winning design by Corrigan, Soundy and Kilaiditi was completed in 1983 and comprises 76 homes—a mix of houses, flats, maisonettes—and offices over a 3-acre site. The brief stipulated that 20% of the homes should be for first-time buyers and the office space should offer job opportunities for local residents. The well-detailed buildings feature engineered brick, colourful metal balconies and porthole windows.
When I saw the houses, I immediately wanted to live in one, but, a quick Google revealed they were way beyond my means. Damn, they will need to remain a dream. Despite this, I set up Zoopla property alerts for the area just in case. One of the houses came up for sale last week (and confirmation that I will never be able to afford one), as well as an interesting three-bedroom postmodern apartment a little further east, on Bywater Place, which I didn’t know anything about and the internet revealed nothing about its architects.
