Belvedere Place, London SE1 MJP designed this hostel in Southwark for the London Hostels Association, a charity whose object is to provide accommodation at reasonable cost to working people and students in London.

This new hostel in Southwark is for the London Hostels Association, a charity whose objective is to provide accommodation at reasonable cost to working people and students in London. Friendship House is extremely popular with its residents, and there is very high demand for places.

We needed to make the most of the space offered by the restricted site, which is in a densely populated inner-city area. The 179 bed-sit rooms are therefore arranged in a spiral fitting tightly to the site¹s boundaries. Much thought was devoted to the design of the rooms, which had to be small to make the project viable. Windows were placed adjacent to party walls to enhance reflected light and, combined with the design of the fitted furniture, to provided well articulated rooms.

The bed-sit rooms are arranged around a central courtyard containing a pool and fountain which reflect light and produce a gentle white noise that camouflages the noise of the nearby railway and streets. Cutting across this quiet space is a green slate walkway which connects the main ground floor common rooms back to the reception area. Kitchens, serving as subsidiary common rooms, are located in the corners of the courtyard.

External finishes are white render with mosaic inserts, zinc shingles on the elevation facing the neighbouring railway line railway, and glass planks around the tops of the stair towers

Client London Hostels Association
Contract JCT. 98
Completion Oct 2003
Cost £ 7.35m

Download project details in pdf format