Library Street Affordable Housing - Muro Court | London Southwark Elephant & Castle Regeneration

Library Street Affordable Housing is a competition-winning project for Southwark Council and London & Quadrant in the Elephant & Castle regeneration area, conceived as a benchmark mixed-tenure scheme that dissolves visual distinctions between public and private housing through a contemporary, light and flexible urban form within a mixed-use context.
The development provides 40 dwellings, including large family flats and six 4-bedroom townhouses for affordable rent and shared ownership, arranged to create a clear sequence of public, semi-public and private open spaces: a perimeter courtyard layout replaces the brief’s proposed street-front continuation along Milcote Street, forming a green public square and community garden that link new and existing buildings.
An angled, stepping apartment block on the western side mediates between the new building and the lower listed former library to the south, while a row of six townhouses encloses the open space to the north; access to the apartments is from the courtyard via a centrally placed stair and short lobbies serving small clusters of flats.
Generous loggias, terraces, balconies and winter gardens, together with a shared landscaped roof garden offering panoramic views over London, maximise amenity and sunlight, with most living spaces facing south, east or west and full-height windows providing abundant daylight.
Materials and detailing integrate the building into its conservation-area context: five shades of slim, handmade‑appearance brick laid in a random bond echo neighbouring colours, while subtly projecting and recessed storey-high panels in each tone, combined with white precast concrete elements, structure the façades; the scheme was delivered within strict affordable-housing budgets following early consultation with future tenants and neighbours.