Mixed-use regeneration at Clapham One
Clapham One was an 80 million pound regeneration scheme in Clapham, SW4, completed in 2012 by United House, a BREE legacy company. The development combined 199 new homes with significant public facilities, delivered through a public-private partnership with the London Borough of Lambeth.
The scheme was a model for funding community infrastructure through residential development, with the homes helping to pay for new public buildings that the council could not otherwise have funded.
The site sits in the heart of Clapham, where the regeneration replaced ageing civic buildings with a coordinated mix of homes and public uses. Bringing forward housing and community facilities together on a constrained town-centre plot called for careful planning of how the different elements would sit alongside one another.
A library and leisure centre for Lambeth
At the heart of Clapham One is a striking new library designed by Studio Egret West, with a sculptural spiral ramp that became an architectural landmark when it opened in July 2012. The residential element was co-designed by Studio Egret West and dla architecture.
The scheme also delivered a new leisure centre, which opened in February 2012 as the first new leisure centre in Lambeth for 30 years. Together the library and leisure centre gave the borough modern community facilities funded through the regeneration.
Homes that funded public space
The 199 new homes at Clapham One sat above and alongside the public facilities, demonstrating how carefully planned mixed-use development can deliver both housing and civic infrastructure on a single site. The scheme drew design recognition and was held up as an example of intelligent urban regeneration.
For BREE Construction, Clapham One reflects a legacy of delivering complex mixed-use schemes that give something lasting back to the communities around them.
The public-private partnership model allowed the council to secure modern civic buildings that would otherwise have been beyond its means, with the value generated by the new homes underwriting the cost of the library and leisure facilities. This made Clapham One a frequently cited example of how regeneration can deliver public benefit alongside new housing.
