London's current crop of architects is often accused of being uninspired, but one new design for a set of apartments in Homerton will have you licking your lips.
Architects' Journal reports that south London based architectural firm Pensaer has submitted designs for 28 new homes in Chelmer Road, Homerton, which take direct inspiration from ice cream. Mock-up designs show waffle-textured precast panels, as well as supporting columns distinctly resembling ice cream cones. What's more, the building's colour scheme includes lickable shades of pistachio and strawberry.
So was Pensaer inspired by the recent heatwave? In fact, the flats are to be built on the site of the Valente Bros ice cream factory/the depot where it parks its fleet of ice cream vans. A small family business, Valente Bros has operated from here since the 1970s, but recently experienced a downturn in business caused by factors including increased business rates, the expansion of Congestion Charge zone and increasing energy prices. With the Chelmer Road site no longer viable, Valente Bros is hoping to relocate elsewhere, though a new location has yet to be secured.
Meanwhile, the development's marketeers have already rebranded the area the Ice Cream Quarter. Cool.
No news yet on when the apartments might get the go-ahead/construction will begin. Let's just hope, for the sake of whoever might end up moving in, that the walls themselves are not wafer thin.
