The Hyde, London Borough of Barnet for Casa Bella Developments Ltd with Peter Barber Architects

At 0.46 hectares, The Hyde revitalises a neglected section of Edgware Road with a two-storey frontage along Silkfield Road. Replacing buildings with blank, inactive facades, it introduces 139 new homes, a public community garden, and a community centre. The design provides a civic presence, transforming the area into a cohesive neighbourhood that celebrates the surrounding streets. The community garden enhances green space, benefiting both new and existing residents while fostering connection and vibrancy in the area.

Who is on the project team? (designer, consultants, etc)

Architect – Peter Barber Architects

Planning Consultant – Savills

Noise – Acoustic Consultants

Air Quality – Air Quality Assessments

Ecology and Arboriculture – Arbtech

Quantity Surveyor – Avison Young

Communications Consultant – Cavendish

Drainage – Civilistix

Daylight/Sunlight, Sustainability – T16

Viability Consultant – DS2

MEP – EngDesign

Fire – BWC Fire

Visualisers – Fumo Studio

Transport – Lime Transport

Landscape – Plan Design

Describe the context of this project, its neighbourhood and people.

The Hyde site is situated on the northeastern side of Edgware Road A5, Barnet. It is currently occupied by a Sui Generis Volvo Cars showroom with ancillary service garage and car parking. The building is set back from Edgware Road but forms a two storey back of pavement edge along Silkfield Road - sitting forward of the predominantly two storey semi-detached houses adjacent. The current buildings on site have significant blank and inactive facades. Edgware Road A5 has a distinctly different character to the residential streets that sit to the north east and south west. The A5 has an erratic building line with more prominent buildings at a variety of heights, rising to 14+ storeys at points along the main road. This gives opportunity to create a coherent piece of neighbourhood that celebrates the streets bounding the site, whilst providing a strong building line to establish a confident, vibrant edge to the street - contributing positively to an otherwise spatially dispersed part of Edgware Road.

Please describe your approach to this future place and its mix of uses. How will it function as a vibrant place? How does it knit into, and serve the needs of, the wider area? 

The Hyde provides a new community garden, a community space, social and for sale housing. The garden is a densely planted space sheltered from the noise of the busy road by the building itself. It provides a pedestrian link between Silkfield Road and Hillfield Avenue with sunny spots to sit and rest. It is to be shared by the residents of our new building and the wider community. The community space is available for the use of the building’s residents and the people who live nearby.

What is the social and environmental impact of the project? For example, how will the carbon use and material impact of the development be mitigated? What is the sustainability strategy? How will this future place contribute to the economic, environmental and social wellbeing of its citizens?

The Hyde creates a purposeful civic frontage to a particularly unloved section of Edgeware Road. It steps down at the rear where it meets it more suburban context. The building will assist in protecting existing resident of the noise from Edgeware Road. There is a community space which we anticipate will bring new and existing residents together. The building is super insulated, and it employs renewable energy sources such as air source heat pumps and roof mounted solar cells.