Award
High Street Swanley shortlisted for the RIBA South East 2025 awards

Posted on 19 February 2025

We are happy to announce that High Street Swanley has been shortlisted for the RIBA South East Regional Awards 2025.

High Street Swanley brings an important town centre location back into productive use. We worked with Sevenoaks District Council to design a building that supports their economic regeneration objectives, creates 17 attractive new homes, and a flexible 257 sq.m co-working/business hub that responds well to post-pandemic workplace trends.

High Street Swanley revives a vacant brownfield site and is a model for local authorities looking to take control of assets in their area to drive regeneration, support local workers and businesses, and deliver new homes. The building provides a mixture of one and two bed homes addresses local housing needs, while the new business hub enhances the vibrancy and economic viability of the high street.

The business hub – known as The Meeting Point – offers a range of options for start-ups looking for a high street presence; established businesses looking for low-cost accommodation, and homeworkers looking for a vibrant place to work.

Bespoke joinery, exposed services and a robust yet attractive materials palette make this an attractive place to meet and work, in an extremely convenient high street location. A refined palette of neutral hues present a restrained yet confident street elevation, with inset balconies and recesses picking up the rhythm of the surrounding streetscape. Glazed bricks are used to articulate entrances and balcony openings.

A garden to the rear of the ground floor is designed to be shared between commercial and residential tenants, supporting local biodiversity and offering generous landscaped social space where people can meet and relax.

The well-balanced mixed-use scheme brings new life to this key town centre location, kick-starting wider regeneration in Swanley by bringing new footfall to the area, and repairing what had previously been a degraded streetscape.