Bell Phillips Architects

It is wonderful to see residents moving into their new homes on Albion Street – our latest residential development for Southwark Council, providing 26 affordable homes in Rotherhithe for social rent and shared ownership. Despite its modest scale, the scheme plays a key role in the regeneration of Rotherhithe High Street, introducing a flexible ground floor space and public square to support the area's popular Scandinavian Markets and local businesses. Albion Street provides new homes on a challenging site, constrained by the proximity of the Rotherhithe Tunnel and bookended by two Grade II listed churches. Responding to this context, our design finds a common language between the 1920s St Olav's Norwegian Church and the 1950s Finnish Seaman's Mission. A two-storey red brick plinth responds to the horizontal banding of the traditionally styled Norwegian Church, and a grid of square punched windows within the five-storey building echoes the Modernist regimented grid of the Finnish Church. White brickwork is used to tie together with the tone of the Finnish Church, and together the two buildings frame the existing public square, which has been upgraded to provide an attractive outdoor space for residents and neighbours. The new building provides a mix of one, two and three-bed apartments, all exceeding London Housing Design Guide standards with dual-aspect layouts for excellent natural light and ventilation. Residents benefit from generous private balconies and a shared roof terrace, whilst the enhanced public square and ground floor space will support local community uses and enterprise. Albion Street demonstrates how council-led infill development can deliver both essential affordable housing and meaningful placemaking benefits. Congratulations to the whole project team! @kilianosullivan @southwarkcouncil @rmaarchitects @engineers_hrw @measur_qs @annafrenchassoc @guildmoreltd #socialhousing #affordablehomes #rotherhithe #southwark #councilhomes #londonhousing #infill

The Tree House is included in Timber Buildings Vol 2 by Dr. Sandra Hofmeister and published by Edition DETAIL - a collection of 30 international projects that celebrate “visionary architecture with lasting relevance.” Built from cross-laminated timber, bamboo, and sustainably sourced cladding, The Tree House is centred around a preserved London Plane tree in Elephant Park to create an inclusive civic space; a place to pause, meet, and reconnect with nature. At Bell Phillips we are passionate about designing with timber - an inherently regenerative material that sequesters carbon and invites warmth and tactility. This book illustrates the wide range of possibilities offered by timber as a construction material and its power to build a more grounded, climate-conscious future. 🌳 @detailmagazine #CLT #timberbuildings

The @financialtimes has featured our Cosway Street project for Westminster City Council. The article explores whether architects, governments or the public should have the final say on beauty, and whether beauty is even the right question. We share Lisa Finlay’s view from the @humaniseorg Campaign (featured), which focuses on visual complexity rather than a narrow idea of beauty. At Cosway Street, our scalloped facades in varying shades of fluted brick create a richness of depth and rhythm that echoes the surrounding Georgian and Victorian streets. It is a contemporary building that speaks the language of its context. Cosway Street is an example of quality visual complexity and a piece of future heritage. A link to the article by Francesca Specter can be found in our bio. @ft_houseandhome

Bell Phillips directors Tim Bell and Jay Morton are heading to Leeds next week for UKREiiF 2026, with density firmly on the agenda. Here's where to find us: 1. Wednesday 20 May, 11:45 - 12:45 | The Pink Zone       Great Housing Development Summit – Future Homes, Future Voters – Young Voices Roundtable    Jay will be joining the round table to discuss how younger generations experience the housing system today and what they expect from future housing policy. 2. Thursday 21 May, 08:30–09:30 | Cratus Group Pavilion Launch of Good Homes for All 2.0 We'll be attending as part of the AA4AH campaign group to celebrate the recent launch of ‘Good Homes for All 2.0: How Architects Can Help Deliver Housing’. Published by the Architects' Journal in partnership with Architects' Action for Affordable Housing, it showcases 15 projects that demonstrate higher density doesn't have to mean lower quality. Importantly, the publication sets out how architects can help deliver the homes we need while securing wider social, environmental and economic value. 3. Thursday 11:45 - 12:45 | The Pink Zone    Great Housing Development Summit – Future Places, Future Voters – Designing Homes, Towns & Infrastructure Jay is joining the round table exploring how younger generations want to live in the future and what this means for housing, placemaking, transport and infrastructure delivery. A link to all of the events can be found in our bio. Hope to see you there. Get in touch via [email protected] or send us a DM to arrange a meet-up. @ukreiif @weareaa4ah @architectsjournal

Join us at Clerkenwell Design Week with EH Smith to explore how we can deliver homes that are both financially viable and environmentally sustainable. Marginal gains will only get us so far with achieving the UK's Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard. The real leverage lies in material volume. Through simpler, leaner high-rise design strategies that reduce material use, cut structural weight and avoid unnecessary complexity, our proposals achieve upfront embodied carbon reductions of over 30% whilst simultaneously bringing costs down. The biggest opportunities lie in the earliest decisions. Done well, these parameters ensure everything that follows aligns: cost, carbon and quality. On Wednesday 20 May our Sustainability Designer, Sasha Swannell, will share practical strategies that demonstrate sustainability can strengthen viability rather than compromise it, drawing on live project experience and our ongoing research, in collaboration with Gardiner & Theobald LLP and Webb Yates Engineers. 18:00 Wednesday 20th May EH Smith, 38-42 St John St, London EC1M 4DL Tickets available via a link in our bio. @clerkenwelldesignweek @ehsmitharch @gt_llp @webbyates #CDW2026 #NetZero #EmbodiedCarbon #Viability

We are delighted to have Albion Street shortlisted for a Housing Design Award after completing late last year. This infill scheme for Southwark Council provides 26 affordable homes in Rotherhithe for social rent and shared ownership, in a mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments. All homes exceed London Housing Design Guide standards, with dual-aspect layouts that offer excellent natural light throughout. Beyond the homes themselves, Albion Street has been designed to support Rotherhithe High Street, introducing a flexible ground floor space and a public square to serve the area's popular Scandinavian Markets and local businesses. The scheme is bookended by two Grade II listed churches, and our design seeks to find a common language between the 1920s St Olav's Norwegian Church and the 1950s Finnish Seaman's Mission. It is exciting to see Albion Street shortlisted alongside such an inspiring lineup of new housing. Congratulations to all the project teams. @housingdesignawards_uk @southwarkcouncil @rmaarchitects @guildmoreltd @engineers_hrw @annafrenchassoc

Our co-founder Tim Bell returned to The British School at Rome, where he was awarded the RIBA Rome Prize in 1998, and where more recently he was invited to give a lecture on the creative process of architecture and regeneration. In his talk, Tim traces the journey of design from first concept to finished place, beginning where it always does for him: a sketch. It's a habit he cultivated in Italy, and one that has never left him - catching the life of a city in pencil, trying to understand what makes certain places feel the way they do, and how that has influenced his work in practice since then. The link to the full recording is in our bio to hear Tim discuss how design ambition can be balanced against the real-world constraints and challenges that shape successful urban regeneration. @britishschoolatrome

Fantastic news that the next step towards the regeneration of Convent Way in Heston has been approved by Cabinet. We will now be developing the design and delivery approaches towards the procurement of a development partner. Delivered in phases, the regeneration will allow residents to remain on the estate until such time that their new homes are ready, with a mix of around 900 homes, new parks and play spaces designed to support a thriving and inclusive neighbourhood. The proposals have been shaped through extensive engagement, ensuring that the future of Convent Way responds directly to the needs and priorities of the existing community, resulting in an 80% resident ballot in favour of development. We look forward to continuing our work with the London Borough of Hounslow and the community to help bring this important scheme forward. @hounslowcouncil @secchi_smith

The AA4AH Emergency & Temporary Housing Workshop took place on Thursday, bringing together leaders across local authorities and architectural practices to shape better, fairer, and faster approaches to emergency and temporary accommodation. Table leads guided discussions spanning planning use classes, design standards, procurement barriers, rapid‑delivery models, and pathways from temporary to permanent homes. It was a productive, solutions‑focused session - more on this soon! To name a few that attended: Pitman Tozer Architects Luke Tozer Havering Council Darren Alexander Fuse Architects dave Hughes RCKa Russell Curtis DP9 Chris Gascoigne ORMS Miranda MacLaren Ealing Council Mitchell Powell & Yemi Aladerun BPTW Neill Campbell Chloe Phelps Barr Gazetas Félicie Krikler HTA Design Simon Baylis Levitt Bernstein Jo McCafferty Bell Phillips Jay Morton @centrepoint

💛 Today we’re recognising Bell Phillips as one of the first organisations to join the Part W Supporters’ Circle. 💛 By becoming a supporter, Bell Phillips is helping sustain the research, advocacy and campaigns pushing for gender equity in the built environment. Backing this work sends an important message: equity isn’t just something to talk about - it’s something to support and invest in. Thank you @bellphillipsarc for standing with us as part of this inaugural year. #WeArePartW #PartWSupportersCircle #IWD2026

As Jay and Tim prepare to head to MIPIM in Cannes next week, it feels particularly fitting that our Kulan masterplan has recently been adopted by the City of Gothenburg - a project that began in Cannes with a conversation with our now client, Stena Fastigheter, one of Sweden’s leading urban developers. Cecilia Fasth, CEO of Stena Fastigheter had these generous words to say about our collaboration: “We have been inspired by Bell Phillips’ work in transforming historic industrial areas into vibrant neighbourhoods. That experience has been important in shaping Kulan as an open and welcoming part of Gothenburg… we look forward to contributing together to a new part of the city that residents and visitors will enjoy for many years to come.” Just one example of many opportunities born at MIPIM. If you’re heading to Cannes next week, Jay and Tim would be delighted to discuss potential collaborations across Europe. DM or contact us at [email protected] Thank you to the Architects’ Journal for the feature where you can read more about the transformation of the ball bearing factory along the River Säveån into a neighbourhood of around 1,000 homes alongside workplace, services, retail and a public park across 116,000 sqm. A link to the article can be found in our bio. @stenafastigheter @architectsjournal @mipim_world @secchi_smith #MIPIM2026

A small scheme with a powerful story of community. We are pleased to share that we have recently submitted a planning application for 19 new homes for social rent in Stonebridge, on behalf of Brent Community Land Trust. In a borough with one of the largest social housing waiting lists in the UK, this proposal represents something powerful: community-led housing driven by the commitment and persistence of local volunteers. Brent Community Land Trust is an independent, not-for-profit organisation run entirely by volunteers who live, work or have strong connections to Brent. This is the group’s first housing project, designed specifically for single adults, creating a meaningful opportunity for local people to remain in their neighbourhood. Together, our proposal will transform a derelict garage site into 19 one-bed one-person dual-aspect homes. The design takes inspiration from Brent’s modernist heritage, with a prominent curved corner, and articulated entrance and lift shaft that echo the Art Deco buildings of Metroland, an important part of the borough’s architectural identity. Wide deck access on the upper floors is conceived as shared social space with in-built bench seating next to each front door. A communal room at ground floor has been designed with a kitchenette, communal washing machine and co-working area but also kept deliberately flexible with integrated storage to allow future residents to decide how it will be used, reinforcing the project’s community-led ethos. More can be read in Building Design. via a link in our bio. Planning is expected to be determined in the Spring. Congratulations to everyone involved in reaching this significant milestone. @brent.clt @brentcouncil @clhlondon LivShare Housing @sapphire.independent.housing @mosstudio_gardendesign @engineers_hrw @webbyates @consarc_