Windmill Court

Windmill Court housing estate was built in 1967 and occupies a fantastic site on Shoot Up Hill in Kilburn. Working in collaboration with Brent Housing Partnership the project is an inspiring challenge, which deals with improving the setting of the estate to create a better place to live whilst also making the case for new build housing that is high quality and affordable. The estate hosts an unlikely marriage of modernist and traditional urban forms, exposed concrete slab blocks, in a mature tree setting and conservation area. Our approach aims to resolve how the building meets the ground, improving the setting, whilst introducing new pedestrian routes and reinvigorated landscape space, as a means to connect with the neighbours and create a secure space for the residents. The developing proposals have been carefully sculpted to respond to the adjacent context and existing trees, and the massing has been tested to minimise daylight impact to the estate following LB Brent’s guidelines on sky visibility.