An apartment building placed 30cm from a railway viaduct may seem unlikely but Solid Space commissioned dRMM to design one with an idea for a new housing typology for brownfield sites, a hybrid of the Continental horizontal apartment and the English vertical terrace house. The development transformed a derelict site to create large split level flats that offer space, light, roof terraces and a communal garden. Each apartment is organised as a large, open double-height living space, with adjacent bedrooms and stairs forming a buffer to the railway. The transformation of the traditional apartment plan responds to changing living and working patterns of contemporary urban households. The double entry, generous size of units, riser positions and flexible layouts created a regeneration concept of sustainable, long lasting, loose fit living. It is possible to subdivide all the apartments into live and work, or double household units. “This type of urban accommodation means a divorce need not mean moving out” A.de Rijke The building was conceived as ‘inside-out’; it appears to be a wooden coat over a concrete frame. Closer inspection reveals all to be concrete. Internally, walls are textured concrete. Externally, they are clad with fibrous cement, a mock-timber rain screen of augmenting proportions. Other than in situ concrete, all components are prefabricated, specified and assembled according to dRMM’s ‘off the shelf’ catalogue design methodology. No. one Centaur Street received several awards in recognition of its small but significant contribution to London’s housing agenda.