Northfield Avenue

The development at Northfield Avenue involved the construction of nine new residential apartments above an active Tesco Express, demonstrating the effective use of airspace to deliver housing within a dense urban context.

The scheme included two apartments constructed to the rear above an existing flat roof, alongside a new mansard extension accommodating a further two units. A new stair core and suspended rear balcony were introduced to serve the additional dwellings, with a shared circulation space formed at first-floor level to connect all apartments.

Architecturally, the extension responds to the existing streetscape through the retention of brickwork and stone window surrounds, complemented by zinc standing-seam cladding to the mansard level. Large floor-to-ceiling windows and rooflights were incorporated to maximise daylight and improve the thermal performance of the upgraded building envelope.

Structurally, the primary challenge was adding multiple residential floors to an existing early-20th-century commercial structure with limited reserve capacity. A lightweight steel framing system was adopted to minimise additional loading on the existing foundations. A bespoke transfer deck was designed to redistribute the loads from the new apartments efficiently onto the original structural columns, limiting the need for strengthening works and enabling construction to proceed with minimal disruption to the occupied retail unit below.