Andover Estate, Holloway

Andover Estate in Holloway, North London, is the largest public housing estate in the London Borough of Islington. Construction originally began in the 1950s; this area is now known among residents as “the old flats”, with newer buildings built across the next 2 decades. 3 uniquely designed triangular buildings; named Didbin, Noll and Docura after local architects, are hallmarks of the estate.

metroSTOR has a successful working partnership with Islington Council, with over 300 bin housings installed over their Borough to date, including the incorporation of green roof bin housings at Moelwyn Hughes Court. The Council declared a Climate Emergency in 2019, setting themselves ambitious household recycling targets that placed emphasis on creating a greener Borough. This was in-line with their intentions to reach a 2030 net zero carbon goal, with the Council utilising our green roof bin housings as an element supporting their overall goal of reducing carbon emissions and promoting biodiversity. 

In recent years, Andover Estate has drawn criticism from local press, reporting petty crime and general lawlessness from members of the youth community, alongside drug problems that escalated in the early 1990s. However, youth action and demonstration helped to bring these controversial reports into dispute, highlighting the actual reduction in crime, the negative influence of non-residents to these figures, and the impact of misrepresentative journalism. The estate is also regarded as holding a strong community identity among residents, with the unique physical layout of the estate helping to foster this. 

Back in 2017, Studio Partington; an award-winning, London-based architectural practice working on behalf of Islington Council,  referred their strategic planning application for the regeneration of Andover Estate to the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, where it was approved. The project has already received a number of awards and accolades from various publications and will integrate new social and private housing to the estate, with contemporary 6 storey buildings helping to provide 199 new homes alongside 5000 sqm of affordable workspace. Further elements will involve landscaping improvements to public open spaces and connecting walking routes, in addition to children’s play facilities and the conversion of existing garages.

As part of the scheme, metroSTOR was approached with the intention of introducing estate-wide waste and recycling services. This is our second collaboration with Studio Partington, with the practice successfully completing an Accredited CPD Course on Designing Effective Waste & Recycling Storage in 2020, delivered by metroSTOR. 

For the Andover Estate project, our proposed solution was to design and implement a number of bespoke variations of the widely-utilised metroSTOR PBM Bin Storage Housing model, located at several points across the estate, including Berkeley Walk, Andover Road and Didbin House.

A total of 45no. units will accommodate 4-wheeled bin containers, each with a capacity of 660L to 1280L. The units were designed with custom dimensions to accommodate site-specific footprints and will incorporate both recycling and general waste apertures. 16no. units will additionally feature food waste bins, providing comprehensive facilities for residents across the estate and highlighting our capacity for accommodating unique and varied requirements. 

In-line with Studio Partington’s sustainability principles, as well as Islington’s Councils ambitions to reduce carbon and improve biodiversity, 15no. units will feature intensive green roofs. elegant sedum & wildflower mix. In contrast to their extensive counterpart, intensive green roofs require a greater depth of growing medium in order to support their wildflower species. External bin stores are ideally suited to these systems, with their lower height and practical construction reducing requirements for ongoing maintenance costs. In turn, they offer an effective resource for aiding biodiversity in urban locations. 

The inclusion of bee hotel log cladding panels and raised flower boxes provided a further demonstration of this initiative, with these distinctive and beneficial additions to Andover Estate’s bin stores supplying a nurturing environment for insects and birds, aiding the introduction of green spaces across the development, as well as helping to combat the ongoing risk of decline to bee populations in the UK, brought on by the effects of climate change. A number of London Borough Council’s have begun to implement similarly-directed initiatives to combat this critical issue.

Ultimately, providing attractively designed bin housings that are accessible and located conveniently presents councils and developers with real opportunities to drive improvements to communal spaces among community environments, aiding resident engagement in recycling, waste management and providing a crucial aspect in any regeneration scheme by helping to ensure a safe, clean neighbourhood for both new and existing residents.

To find out more about waste and recycling units visit Bin Stores OR give our team a call on 01227 200404