Stanley Gardens Warehouse 

Reimagining Acton Vale’s industrial heritage for a sustainable future.

Acton Vale, London 

Rendering of a city street with a modern brick building, trees, pedestrians, cyclists, and a bus.
A modern multi-story building with a unique architectural design, featuring a brick lower section, a dark brick middle section with large windows, and a white upper section with angular peaks and balconies with plants.

Reimagining an Industrial Heritage

Stanley Gardens in Acton tells a story of industry and adaptation. Once part of “Motor Town” in the late 19th century, the area supported car manufacturing, munitions during the Second World War, and later media and light industries. Today, the Victorian brick warehouses — with their end gables and sawtooth roofs — remain home to a mix of makers, from printers to music schools.

A modern multi-story building with balconies, located on a street corner, surrounded by pedestrians, trees, and vehicles.

Our proposal builds on this layered history. Rather than demolish, we chose to retain the warehouses’ character, embodied carbon, and cultural significance, introducing a new structural “table” above them. This lightweight CLT framework will provide affordable workspaces, residential units, and live-work homes, extending the life of the buildings while reinforcing their role as a hub for creativity and craft.

A building with a brick facade and arched windows on the ground floor, and a modern multi-story structure with terraces and triangular roofs behind it, with trees and people walking in front.

The architectural language is deliberately robust, unselfconscious, and true to the materials of the area’s vernacular. By balancing preservation with low-carbon construction and adding much-needed mixed-use functions, the development sustains the site’s legacy while preparing it for the future.

A modern architectural building with brick and concrete elements, multiple levels, and sloped roofs, situated along a street with pedestrians and cars, with cloudy sky in the background.

With excellent transport connections and proximity to central London, Stanley Gardens demonstrates how industrial heritage can be reimagined as a sustainable, community-driven urban fabric.

A grayscale map of a city with streets, buildings, and trees, highlighting a specific building in black.

On-Site 2024 
Images by Dominika Kubicka for Jason Good