Stories<\/a> and funder Aviva Capital Partners have unveiled Maccreanor Lavington as the architect to lead on the residential element.<\/p>\nThe Albany was rebuilt after a fire in the late 1970s and reopened by Princess Diana in 1982. It has hosted performers such as Lenny Henry, Whoopi Goldberg and Jessie Ware over the past four and a half decades.<\/p>\n
But it now needs \u2018significant investment\u2019 to keep it affordable, accessible and fit for future generations. According to the team, the \u2018ageing infrastructure, rising maintenance costs and outdated systems are making it increasingly difficult and expensive to run\u2019.<\/p>\n
Maccreanor Lavington\u2019s housing, for local arts students, is being built in partnership with education provider Trinity Laban. It is understood this will generate around half of the funding needed for the overhaul.<\/p>\n
Albany chief executive Mimi Findlay said: \u2018This project has always been about safeguarding the Albany\u2019s future. By bringing together Witherford Watson Mann and Maccreanor Lavington, we\u2019re assembling a design team that reflects the different elements of the vision while keeping our focus firmly on protecting what makes the Albany so special.<\/p>\n
\u2018The student homes are being explored as a way of helping unlock the investment needed to secure the future of this remarkable community asset.\u2019<\/p>\n
Maccreanor Lavington project architect Eva Barnett added: \u2018The opportunity to help deliver affordable homes for Trinity Laban students reinforces Deptford\u2019s strong community identity, supports the long-term future of one of London\u2019s most important cultural institutions, and is exactly the kind of brief we relish.\u2019<\/p>\n
The proposals remain at an early stage, although public consultation has taken place throughout the summer, with five community workshops helping to co-produce a design brief. More detail on the emerging designs for the student homes is expected to be revealed before the end of the year as part of a second phase of engagement.<\/p>\n
Witherford Watson Mann won the 2025 Stirling Prize with Appleby Blue Almshouse, a residential complex for the over-65s in south London, which the judges described as \u2018a clarion call for a new form of housing at a pivotal moment\u2019.\u00a0It had previously won the prize 12 years earlier for its revamp of 12th-century Astley Castle in Warwickshire.<\/p>\n
Maccreanor Lavington itself won the Stirling in 2008 as part of the team behind the Accordia housing development in Cambridge alongside Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios and Alison Brooks Architects.<\/p>\n
\ufeff<\/p>\n
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2018 predictions: Will the profession continue to be marginalised?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In July, double Stirling Prize winner Witherford Watson Mann was picked to revamp the arts centre, originally designed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":621311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,305794,499,500,305795,501,156,297178,111,139,69,109845,305796],"class_list":["post-621310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-arts-centre","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-deptford","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-maccreanor-lavington","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-student-housing","tag-witherford-watson-mann"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=621310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/621311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}