Gwynne Road Featured on Building Design

Wimshurst Pelleriti completes Battersea ‘gem’

Wimshurst Pelleriti has completed the 14-storey tower in south London that prompted the practice’s founders to set up a new studio and quit their jobs at RSHP.

Will Wimshurst and Leo Pelleriti began work on the £10m Diamond Wharf scheme in 2013, aware that the Battersea development site would require a “building of real design quality and exceptional environmental credentials” to justify rising nine storeys above the local plan’s recommended height.

In addition to 33 new apartments, the Gwynne Road scheme features distinctive red brise soleil and delivers three floors of commercial space at its lower levels.

Wimshurst said the scheme, on the site of a former industrial unit, had been the “launchpad” for Wimshurst Pelleriti as a multi-disciplinary studio that included property development and project delivery among its specialisms.

“We felt we had the skill, the appetite and the opportunity to design and develop our own projects. Architects often shy away from taking such risks but in many ways we are in a unique position to understand such risks – particularly during the planning process,” he said.

“We are particularly focused on developing awkward sites that need design innovation to unlock a viable solution. At the same time, we have considerable planning experience and enjoy the challenge of steering a radical solution through the system.”

The architects said the project clients were Gwynne Gardens and Mizen Group. Mizen Design & Build was main contractor.