New affordable homes in Lewisham
Metropolitan Workshop has completed 24 new homes at Farmstead Road in Lewisham, creating high-quality, contemporary housing that responds to the local Arts & Crafts heritage. Designed for Phoenix Community Housing, the scheme supports the affordable housing targets set by the London Borough of Lewisham and the Mayor of London. The homes are designed to the Passivhaus 'Low Energy Building Standard' and therefore helping to alleviate fuel poverty for Phoenix residents.
The project delivers a mix of affordable housing, with eighteen two- and three-bedroom homes available at ‘London Affordable Rent’ and six two- and three-bedroom shared ownership homes. These new homes provide much-needed accommodation for local residents while enhancing the character and sense of place in the historic Bellingham estate.
Phoenix Community Housing, a not-for-profit housing association managing over 6,000 homes, is committed to improving housing conditions in the borough. The organisation operates its own maintenance company and continues to invest in local communities through new developments such as Farmstead Road.
The Bellingham estate, originally planned in the post-World War I era by the London County Council, reflects the ideals of the Garden City and Arts & Crafts movements. This legacy has informed the design of the new homes, ensuring they integrate seamlessly with their surroundings while offering modern, high-quality living spaces.
Key design features of the development include two gatehouse buildings that replace an existing two-storey terrace, framing a new entry point to a larger apartment building at the rear. The placement and orientation of the buildings respect the established streetscape of Farmstead Road, maintaining harmony with the surrounding two-storey terraces. The gatehouse dwellings present a frontage and scale similar to the existing terraces, while their design references distinctive corner and end-of-terrace buildings found throughout Bellingham.
The larger apartment building adopts a unique butterfly-shaped design, aligning with the geometric layout of the surrounding estate. Its kinked plan ensures an inward-facing orientation, reducing direct overlooking into neighbouring properties and optimizing natural light through dual- and triple-aspect homes. The massing of the three-storey structures has been carefully considered to appear visually smaller from the street, maintaining the estate’s characteristic low-rise feel.
