Social Housing Apartments,

Sampson Road, Birmingham

Client: Family Housing Association
Contractor: to be confirmed
Status: starting September 2008

100 Sampson Road is a grade 2* listed building, originally one grand house, which had been converted in 7 bed-sit flats. More recently the property has fallen into a state of disrepair and been closed, resulting in mis-use and general vandalism.

The property has been acquired by a Housing Association and our brief

was to bring the former glory back to this one-time impressive property.

Many of the original features remain but were less prominent due to

the unwieldy insertion of stud partition walls, sinks, and the usual

bed-sit accessories.

... the new layout to adhere to the original structure....restoring the original proportions and grandeur.....

We proposed only 5 apartments, allowing the new layout to adhere to the

original structure, circulation, and spaces of the original building. Because

of this approach, one of the apartments is a two-storey duplex apartment

occupying a smaller footprint but occupying both floors of the building.

This approach also allowed the communal spaces such as hallways and landings be restored to their original proportions and grandeur. In terms of the apartments themselves though we employed a more contemporary approach, resulting in open plan kitchen / living spaces which are more suitable for modern day living.