A number of retail units are currently provided but the small size precludes their occupation by a number of key uses required to serve local residents. Whilst the retail components of the remaining plots will in time provide these services, the provision of a temporary facility on plot N16 serves the existing blocks and act as a platform for local services and activities until the development reaches completion in 2020. The existing East Village follows the principles of generous public realm and open space bounded within clear and defined building plots. The development reinforces these street frontages to maintain coherence with the overall plan. Pulling the building form apart creates two smaller buildings that follow the plot outline but make space for an outdoor area suitable for programmed events such as markets and exhibitions.
The building also pulls back from the Western boundary to allow spill out from the cafe and restaurant. Given the dominant 10 storey scale of the adjacent residential developments, the roof represents a key elevation. Articulation of the roof form allows the building height to both be adapted to meet the internal building programme and to give presence to the building at key viewpoints from both above and around the site. The aluminium and timber vertical fins articulating the building façade bridge the gap between the two buildings as illuminated vertical posts within the landscape. These define the threshold between public footway and enclosed courtyard and continue the expression of the roof form between the two buildings by matching the virtual building height.
The continuous roof form is further defined through the courtyard lighting which is supported on cables suspended between the two buildings. The two buildings provide 3,608 sqm of gross external area comprising a 826sqm convenience store, 523 sqm pub, 1,759 sqm gymnasium and 212 sqm café.