Capital Interchange Way

Located with Hounslow’s Golden Mile, the proposed mixed use regeneration scheme on this former industrial site includes three circular and hive-like high-rise towers, located within a new public park on a podium deck.

The scheme’s design concept was conceived by a team led by architect Will Alsop OBE, founding director of aLL Design. The eye-catching buildings form the centerpiece of the scheme proposals, responding to the strategic gateway nature of the site off Chiswick Roundabout and adjacent to the new Brentford FC stadium. The three towers accommodate up to 400 residential units and flexible commercial space with a bus depot, car parking, services and plant located below the deck level in a double height podium and basement.

We Design For… team members successfully developed the Sustainability and Energy Strategies for the project that has aspirations to include innovative integrated solutions in the design and delivery of sustainable solutions for the proposed buildings and local environment.

The shape and location of the buildings themselves and associated ventilation strategies disperse pollutants and manage the treatment of fresh air supplied to the development and local environment.

The car-showroom and residential building above, next to the M4/A4 was designed to provide a natural noise, pollution and wind buffer to the public park stretching away behind it.

The taller of the residential buildings adjacent to the M4 draws fresh air in from above through air cleaning vegetation at the top of its atria, and the façade structure coated innovative materials absorbs fumes, noise.

Local pollution and noise levels were carefully assessed, with monitoring equipment on site.

Waste water from the new homes, would be treated and used for washing the buses stored in the new depot and flushing toilets.

Brentford Beekeepers would maintain urban hives within the public park.

The building envelopes are highly insulated and airtight and ventilation systems incorporate the latest energy efficient equipment to reduce heat loss and the cost of heating for the residents and the façade design would provide a secondary skin that improves air quality, limits noise and solar gains.

The buildings were designed to be heated partially utilsing recovered heat from other essential processes. Heat recovery from the data centre would omit the requirement for fossil fuel burning boilers, reducing local pollution and carbon emissions.

Additionally, pioneering sustainable biotechnologies were considered, including the use of vegetation and algae to absorb pollutants.