This substantial commission (five blocks of 526 flats each) is part of a team led by White Arkitekter, who won a competition, organised by Barking & Dagenham Council’s regeneration company, Be First, to design phase 2 of the estate. Skelly & Couch is involved to Stage 3 and planning.

The development, which is one of London’s largest regeneration schemes, delivers Scandinavian-style family apartments and smaller homes built with communal gardens and high-quality public realm. The brief requires the use of off-site construction methods, of which the team have strong and varied experience.

On being appointed, Skelly & Couch Director, Tristan Couch, said: “We are extremely pleased to be given the opportunity to contribute to such an outstanding project. We work on a wide range of residential developments, from student accommodation at Scape Greenwich and the 2018 RIBA Stirling Prize contender Chadwick Hall at Roehampton University, to a BIM prototype home for developer Pocket Living.

“Uniting all our projects is a commitment to designing sustainable buildings which not only use less energy, but perform environmentally and socially, and stand the test of time for future generations.”

Phase 2 instigated the roll-out of a borough-wide district heating infrastructure and the largest private wire electricity network in the UK. Skelly & Couch has been working with the incumbent ESCO B&D Energy to incorporate this into the scheme.