North London Food & Culture

The story of Holmes Road Studios

How dozens of tiny architecturally designed homes came to house homeless adults in Kentish Town

Inexplicably, we missed covering this a year ago, back when Holmes Road Studios were first completed. So it makes sense now, in deepest lockdown, to give such an inspiring local news story a mention.

Just before Covid struck last year, nearly five dozen homeless people moved into a brand new row of cute brick cottages on Holmes Road that look like they might have been there for decades. If you’re a regular up and down that stretch, you’ll probably have seen the development slowly taking place.

It actually dates back over a decade to December 2010, when the council launched their 15-year Community Investment Programme to generate extra funding to invest in schools, homes and community facilities.

Fast forward nearly ten years and the buildings, designed by King’s Cross practice Peter Barber Architects, were finally finished at the end of 2019.


LOCAL ADVERTISING


“Holmes Road Studios is a beautiful new homeless facility with onsite training and counselling, all laid out around a delightful new courtyard garden,” says Peter Barber. “Most of the accommodation is arranged in little studio houses forming terraces fronting the garden, in an alms house typology.”

Inside the studios. Photo: Morley von Sternberg

There are 59 units of modern studio accommodation and training rooms, with residents supported to acquire the skills and confidence to move on to independent living. The cottages have a double height brick vault ceiling with ensuite bathroom, and a mezzanine bed space. All of the rooms look out over the communal green.

“We imagine residents working with a gardener to create and maintain an intensely planted and beautiful garden,” says Barber. “There might be an apple tree or two, potatoes, green veg, soft fruit, herbs, a greenhouse, a potting shed and a sunny spot to sit and rest. I hope it helps foster a sense of belonging, self worth and empowerment amongst residents, an opportunity to develop skills and encourage thinking about nutrition.”

In this tumultuous last year there has, as you’d expect, been huge pressure on the tiny houses. Now, at the start of 2021 they’re all occupied. “We have huge demand due to Covid,” says councillor Danny Beales, who steered the project. “In fact, we’ve had to take on additional hotel space – particularly the Britannia over in Belsize Park.”

One thing’s for sure: Holmes Road Studios is a landmark local project, so let’s hope it can make a real difference to people’s lives.

Got a positive local story to inspire us all during the pandemic? Email info@kentishtowner.co.uk

Photography: Morley von Sternberg

Please support us if you can

If you’ve enjoyed reading this, perhaps you could help us out, too? Kentishtowner is now in its 11th year, but with the demise of our free independent monthly print titles due to advertising revenues, we need your support more than ever to continue delivering cultural stories that celebrate our neighbourhood. Every contribution is invaluable in helping the costs of running the website and the time invested in the research and writing of the articles published. Support Kentishtowner here for less than the price of a coffee – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.


Leave a Comment

Leave a Comment

About Kentishtowner

The award-winning print and online title Kentishtowner was founded in 2010 and is part of London Belongs To Me, a citywide network of travel guides for locals. For more info on what we write about and why, see our About section.