About us...
Founded 2004
Located Unit 305 Metropolitan Wharf
70 Wapping Wall
Wapping, London
E1W 3SS
Contact +44 (0) 20 7234 9330
info@bellphillips.com
Team 35 strong
Awards Civic Trust | Winner 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2025
British Homes Architect of the Year | Winner 2024
British Homes Awards | Winner 2016, 2024
Evening Standard | Winner 2024
Housing Design | Winner 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2024
London Construction | Winner 2024
Pineapple | Winner 2024
Planning | Winner 2024
RIBA Regional | Winner 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2024
Architect of the Year | Winner 2023
Architecture Today | Winner 2023
Inside Housing | Winner 2015, 2016, 2018, 2023
New London | Winner 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021
RIBA National | Winner 2016, 2022
RICS | Winner 2017, 2019
GAGA | Winner 2011
Clients Related Argent, British Land, Lendlease, Peabody, 17 London Boroughs including Southwark, Westminster and Tower Hamlets, Get Living, Igloo, Backhouse, Be First, Pegasus Life, Pocket Living, The Skinners’ School, Kent College Canterbury, Dartford Grammar, Empiric Student Housing
Frameworks BeFirst, Bloom, Clarion, Catalyst, Haringey, Homes England, LCP, LHC, L&Q, London & Quadrant, Notting Hill Genisis, Perfect Circle, Places for People, Royal Parks, Scape, Southwark Architects Framework (ADS), Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Westminster
DRP & QRP
Tim Bell
| Be First, Essex
Melissa Dowler | Folkestone and Hythe, Kensington & Chlesea, Waltham Forest (chair)
Tom Morgan | Reading
Jay Morton | Salford, Croydon, Ealing, Islington
John Lineen | Kingston
Ashmi Thapar | Hounslow, Brent
Uplifting
We create places people love We believe in the power of architecture to provide sustainable and inspiring places that everyone should thrive and benefit from.
Our strong social and moral purpose drives us to use our expertise as architects to make a tangible impact on people’s quality of life.
Progressive
We build for the future
Our design approach is progressive, responsive to the changing world, continuously evolving but always underpinned by our commitment to create a better life for everyone in society.
We create beautifully crafted architecture that responds positively to its surroundings, that challenges convention and creates future legacy.
Respectful
Communities, Collaborators, the Environment
We pride ourselves on our proactive and enthusiastic approach to build constructive relationships with everyone we have the pleasure to meet.
We strive to make the process enjoyable and lead each project with a sensitive ear and collaborative mindset because we believe people make places.
A strong identity in the Lisson Grove Conservation Area
Cosway Street
Located in the Lisson Grove conservation area adjacent to the Grade 2* listed Christ Church, this residential scheme proposes 51 new apartments and penthouses arranged around a landscaped communal garden, alongside two family terraced houses on Ashmill Street. The project, for Westminster City Council, is part of the Church Street Masterplan.
Taking inspiration from the surrounding late Victorian and Georgian terraces and Christ Church, the design reinstates the historic street frontage thereby reinforcing the character of the conservation area. Comprising 100% high value, private sale homes, this development is instrumental in cross-subsidising much of the council’s public housing delivery on other sites nearby.
A new landmark at the St James Quarter
The Jazz Yard
A mixed-use development close to Walthamstow High Street for Sixty Bricks, Waltham Forest Council’s property development company.
The Jazz Yard contains 83 new homes (50% of which are affordable) alongside a new NHS Health Centre and NHS Wellness and Advice Centre, which is expected to formally open in 2024.
The building occupies a former industrial site close to St James Street station and forms a part of the wider St James Area Action Plan masterplan. The development sits at the intersection of a new residential neighbourhood and a new workspace quarter and is conceived as a landmark building for the area. Rising to 12 storeys, it draws the elements of the masterplan together alongside new pedestrian and cycle connections and an improved public realm.
“A jewel in the crown in the wider development of St James Street in Walthamstow, the Jazz Yard exhibits high-quality design that respects and enhances its surrounding context.”
Sixty Bricks
New housing and co-working hub for Swanley
High Street Swanley
This mixed use development on Swanley High Street brings together a co-working space/business hub and 18 new homes. The development makes productive re-use of a vacant town centre 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 project occupies a brownfield site in a key high street location.
A mixture of one and two bed homes addresses local housing needs, while the new business hub - known as The Meeting Pointenhances the vibrancy and economic viability of the high street. Its flexible layout means that it can offer attractive space to small businesses and start-ups, as well fulfilling a post-pandemic need from individuals for coworking space in a convenient town centre location.
The Meeting Point is accessed directly from Swanley High Street, and provides 247 sq.m of flexible commercial space. It provides a supportive setting for individuals who want to be able to work flexibly or for whom home working is not possible. A garden to the rear of the ground floor is designed to be shared between commercial and residential tenants, offering over 340 sq.m of landscaped social space where people can meet and relax.
Later Living in Bristol
Marina Gardens, Portishead
The specialist developer, Lifestory (formerly PegasusLife), began the reinvention of retirement homes as places in which people positively want to live, and commissioned us for the 118-home Marina Gardens development in Portishead.
The building maximises valuable usable space to reduce unnecessary corridors and be as flexible asw possible. Each apartment has expandable dining space that can be closed off as a second bedroom or private study space with flexibility that future-proofs homes so residents can stay in their homes as their needs change.
The series of blocks surround a central garden that creates an oasis of calm and sheltered microclimate. The brick has applied white limewash that further enhances the perception of bright sunlight and shadow, and acts as a neutral backdrop to the vivid greens of the lush landscape.
Regenerating a vibrant Central London quarter
Sites A, B & C, Church Street
The redevelopment of Sites A, B, and C on Church Street represents a transformative project by Westminster City Council, delivering 1,100 mixed-tenure homes alongside public realm improvements, a library, retail, workspace, and infrastructure to support the historic Church Street market.
Bell Phillips Architects secured detailed consent for the first of three plots, encompassing over 400 homes, a library, retail space, market infrastructure, and vibrant public realm enhancements. Outline consent has been granted for the remaining plots, setting the stage for a cohesive, community-focused development.
Economic, environmental, and social sustainability form the core of the proposals. The scheme seeks to enhance local resilience by supporting the street market, providing affordable retail and workspace, and creating new public amenities, including a library and community spaces. Crucially, all existing residents are guaranteed the opportunity to return to new homes within the development, preserving the fabric of the community.
Infill sites in Tower Hamlets
Locksley Estate, Tower Hamlets Housing
Pyrus House and Chris Braithwaite House in Mile End provide 50 affordable flats for social rent overlooking the Regent’s Canal.
The two buildings ‘bookend’ the Locksley Estate in facetted forms that optimise use of the complex brownfield sites. The buildings are designed as a pair with an architectural treatment that deliberately acknowledges the industrial heritage of local canal and railway structures.
These are two of five projects undertaken for Tower Hamlets to provide new housing on sites across the borough, comprising 135 affordable homes on infill sites within existing estates.
Orwell House
Orwell House, located on Lubetkin’s Dorset Estate in Hoxton, incorporates 20 new council homes for social rent. The wedge-shaped building overlooks the adjacent Ravenscroft Park with a rooftop terrace offering communal amenity space with panoramic views.
The wedge-shaped building has GRC panels that echo the tone and chequerboard pattern of the existing estate.
Community-built genuinely-affordable homes
Marklake Court
This development of 27 new flats and maisonettes on the site of existing garages on Weston Street, SE1 represents an entirely new ground-up approach to affordable housing delivery. Residents on the Kipling Estate, frustrated by overcrowding within existing homes and the lack of new affordable housing in the local area, identified an underutilised garage site, established a community benefit society (Leathermarket CBS), obtained funding and formulated a brief. The brief itself was borne out of a housing needs study undertaken across the estate that would see under-occupying older residents moving into the new building, thereby establishing a ‘chain of benefit’ as larger dwellings become released for families.
The design was shaped through extensive local consultation, undertaken over more than a year. Every aspect of the design, from the overall massing, through to flat layouts, materials, finishes and window sizes have been developed through close discussion with the local community. Particular consideration has been placed on developing a strong sense of community with a roof terrace, communal garden and generous communal entrances designed to encourage social interaction between residents.
Prototype housing for older residents
Greenwich Housing
The Housing Services Department at Royal Borough of Greenwich identified an acute need for affordable, single storey dwellings for people over 60 years of age. This is due to an increasingly aged population and a general insufficient supply of available housing which is specifically designed to cater for this user group. In parallel to this, the Council owns many small garage sites around the Borough which are not well used, or even semi derelict in some instances. Some of these sites have a tendency to attract antisocial behaviour, and none of them provide a positive contribution to the townscape.
With these two issues in mind, the Council was granted funding to construct new dwellings on six small sites across the Borough.
We developed a prototype single storey house that can be arranged in alternative layouts on different sites throughout the Borough. A monopitch roof with extensive glazing provides a good quality of height, space and natural light regardless of orientation. The additional height provided by this roof form allows the houses to sit comfortably within different urban situations and provides a generous double height space internally.
“It is good to see a local authority commission housing directly, and to such a high standard that demonstrates an intelligent, holistic mind-set raising the quality of streetscape through contemporary design” Civic Trust Awards Programme
Community-led development in Southwark
Joyce Newman House and Joseph Lancaster Terrace
Acommunity-led development of 40 social rent homes delivered through a unique collaboration between Southwark Council and Leathermarket Community Benefit Society (LCBS). Occupying the site of a disused former nursery, the development comprises two buildings: a new block of 34 apartments, and an adjoining terrace containing six houses that frame a new communal garden.
An intensive series of consultation events with local residents shaped the project brief as well as its design. The lived experience of everyone on the estate was thoroughly considered and informed the new buildings’ choice of material, form, height, massing and layout, as well as the creation of a publicly accessible green open space and the improvement of pedestrian routes through the estate.
This marks the second project completed for the resident’s group, LCBS, with the third currently in planning stages. Through this partnership approach, half of the homes have been allocated to LCBS tenants and the other half to Southwark tenants.
Affordable family homes in the East Village
No5, East Village
The development delivers 48 affordable family residential units for social rent in the exciting former Olympic Village, East Village. Within this growing East London community, residents benefit from the development’s retail space, community use areas, and a Neighbourhood Equipped Area of Play (NEAP) offering an array of amenities for residents and families.
The development displays exceptional quality, attention to detail and high standard of delivery that exceeds most social housing with quality materials, generosity of private amenity and light, spacious homes.
A Neighbourhood Built to Rent
Leigham Court Road
A thoughtfully designed new community in Lambeth, this project delivers highquality housing, generous landscaping and a dedicated community building intended for use as a nursery. Commissioned by Pocket Living, the scheme provides 92 new homes arranged across four distinct blocks, set around a sequence of green spaces.
Three of the blocks are residential, while the fourth is a standalone building positioned at the front of the site for community and commercial uses, creating a strong presence along Leigham Court Road.
Flagship Build to Rent in the centre of Birmingham
Smithfield Plot 4A
This building will be the first phase in Lendlease and Birmingham City Council’s regeneration of Smithfield in Birmingham City Centre. It will provide circa 380 Build to Rent homes plus extensive retail and a wellness facility, together with rooftop amenities and communal spaces for residents. This development will set the standard for a new high value residential offer in Birmingham, and in terms of architecture this will establish a level of design quality appropriate to Manor Square, located on the site of the original manor house owned by the De Birmingham family, and effectively the historic origin of the city.
“This is an important step for both Lendlease and the Birmingham Smithfield regeneration scheme. These plans kick-start the transformation of this iconic site, bringing much needed new homes and spaces that support health and wellbeing and the local community.”
Selina Mason, Director of Masterplanning for Lendlease
Raising the quality of student housing in Manchester
Victoria Point
Victoria Point is south-east of the Oxford Road corridor in central Manchester, located directly adjacent to the Grade II listed Victoria Baths. The existing development of six low rise buildings from the early 2000’s was originally built as general needs housing, before being converted to PBSA and then purchased by our client Empiric.
Working alongside local architect 5Plus, we have developed a masterplan and detailed design for four of the blocks comprising partial refurbishment and new-build to substantially increase both the quantum and quality of the offer from 566 to 876 bedspaces, with much improved public realm and a strong sense of identity informed by the historic baths. A detailed planning application was submitted in 2024.
A new mixeduse district in Gothenburg
District Bearing
Situated along the river Savean in the northern part of Gothenburg, this historic factory complex consists of a series of striking industrial buildings that date back to the early 20th century. Originally built in phases, the factory served as a hub for both the working and cultural life of the region. However, the ball bearing factory has since been replaced by more modern facilities nearby, leaving behind a rich legacy that now calls for a fresh vision.
In collaboration with Stena Fastigheter and Gothenburg City Council, Bell Phillips has been instrumental in developing a placemaking vision for the site’s future. This vision is supported by a comprehensive framework outlining the steps needed to achieve a thriving, multi-use community. Our approach has been informed by extensive research into the best examples of industrial regeneration across Europe, alongside a detailed analysis of the site’s history, architectural fabric, and context.
A new vernacular architecture for lowcarbon housing
William Sutton Prize Winning Research
A radical new approach to sustainable housing. In collaboration with Clarion Housing Group, the practice investigated how to reduce embodied carbon through an innovative new vernacular architecture.
Responding to the sector’s most pressing challenges, including material costs, fire safety regulations and the climate emergency, this research project sought to uncover not just sustainable strategies but tangible, buildable solutions. Central to the proposal was the use of locally sourced, low-carbon materials such as timber, lime, hempcrete and natural stone, selected for their performance, carbon capture and availability.
Real-life Solutions
At the heart of the project in our in-house carbon calculator, a tool used to guide design decisions and quantify reductions. The findings demonstrated a potential reduction of up to 70 percent in embodied carbon compared to conventional methods, proving that lowcarbon construction can be both beautiful and practical.
We worked closely with Clarion’s technical and development teams, using live design scenarios to test viability and ensure proposals could withstand commercial and regulatory scrutiny.
Mixed-use living and learning at Ladbroke Grove
Telford Road
A new mixed-use development in Ladbroke Grove, west London, on behalf of Manak Homes. Located at 2–14 Telford Road and 246–248 Ladbroke Grove, the scheme replaces a former school building with a carefully designed proposal comprising 27 new homes and a nursery.
Responding to the site’s history and community needs, the scheme provides a ground floor children’s nursery that retains the site’s use. A linear courtyard offers a safe and enclosed play space for nursery users. Above, 27 self-contained flats will house up to 90 people, offering a mix of one, two and three-bedroom units. Both the nursery and residential entrances are positioned on Telford Road, with secure cycle storage and refuse facilities discreetly located to the rear of the site.
Work in Progress
Royal Oak
We have recently won an invited competition to design a mixed use high-rise scheme in Paddington for Barratt London and Places For London (TFL).
The development includes 600 new homes, commercial units and public realm. The urban site has complex constraints, sandwiched between railway lines, Lord Hill Bridge, Westbourne Bridge and the A40 Westway. The scheme offers the opportunity for the public realm to open up routes through to the surrounding neighbourhoods.
Lund Quarter
As part of a team with Hawkins Brown and Fisher Cheng, we have been selected to develop Lund Quarter, a 480 home neighbourhood at the heart of the Carpenter’s Estate Masterplan.
The development includes the refurbishment of Lund Point, a 23 storey tower, and a collection of new high and mid-rise buildings.
Tobacco Dock
61 new Build to Rent homes and 200sqm of commercial space adjacent to the Grade I listed Tobacco Dock for Al Mubarakia.
The site enjoys exceptional south facing aspect with long views of the River Thames. The design takes inspiration from the industrial heritage of Wapping, whilst the ground floor elevation seeks to enliven the street with new creative studios opening out on Pennington Street.
Dagenham Green
We have won a competition with Haworth Tompkins for Pocket Living to deliver Phase 2 of the 18.45-hectare Dagenham Green masterplan.
The scheme creates three new neighbourhoods: Chequers Lane, the Northern Quarter and the Urban Park. Our proposals are rooted in placemaking and public realm, creating strong connections to surrounding communities and natural assets.
A mix of homes, uses and character areas will form a vibrant and inclusive new piece of city.
Dagenham Green Phase 2