Fortune Green Road is lined with modest terrace houses and far less modest mansion blocks. A triangular island site flanked by a park and a cemetery is now home to Albert Court, a modern ‘mansion’ development designed by CZWG Architects, which forms a local landmark with its curving lines. The street façade emphasises the curve of the road by setting back its centre, creating a generous concave curve that allows pavement overspill for outdoor seating and the provision of trees. Both the park and cemetery facades are also curved, the former topped with a centre pavilion, the latter in ziggurat form obviating the overlooking of nearby graves. The balconies of the street front are separate and individual to the flats to add a rhythm of elements relating to terraces opposite. Balconies facing the green are long and continuous and suggest a calmer relationship. The southern element of the building also has an undulating set-back top floor behind the parapet under a gently curving copper coloured roof. The building’s ground floor contains commercial units and a gym. Above ground there are three floors of apartments, accessed via a gated archway that leads into a generous courtyard under a glazed circular porte cochere. Apartments have large living rooms leading to deep terraces or balconies. Penthouses have high vaulted ceilings with continuous glazing around the perimeter leading onto wide terraces. |
