Feilden+Mawson were commissioned by the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors to prepare proposals for their early 19thC almshouses site in Lewisham. The site is just under 1 hectare and was acquired by the Company in the 1820's to construct 30 Almshouses. It has remained largely unchanged since with a formal open courtyard design set within an attractive landscape and bordering a grade I listed Chapel all within a Conservation Area. The existing Almshouses are not fully occupied and fall well short of current standards for sheltered housing. As part of the company's long term commitment to providing suitable sheltered accommodation within Lewisham, new Almshouses are to be built on an adjoining site to modern standards which will be funded by the careful development of the existing site. Applications for planning and listed building consent have been prepared after a protracted process of stakeholder consultation with the local community, local amenity groups and the planning officers and the proposals are now recommended for approval. The design is sensitive to the context in making internal alterations to the existing almshouses to form marketable dwellings but at the same time preserving their historic character and grain. One block is being extended to match the existing detailing and two new blocks are being added in a design that is contextually appropriate to the setting using similar materials and physical proportions to the existing buildings. The quality of the landscape plays a distinct part in the character of the site and setting of the listed buildings and as such the impact of development on this has been carefully analysed. The gardens are listed in the London Park and Gardens Trust, London Inventory of Historic Green Spaces. The Almshouses have a large communal garden comprising of a sloping quadrangular lawn with mature specimen trees, shrubbery beds and ornamental rose beds. The preservation of this landscape character is very important to the local area, especially the green band that the mature trees create on the high street. Improvements will be made to the trees including the removal of any dead or low quality trees, additional planting and tree surgery will increase the life span of the trees and will ensure that this quality green area is preserved into the future. Through the development proposals the overall sustainability of the site will be increased in a number of ways. The energy performance of the existing Almshouses will be improved wherever possible, through the use of reclaimed materials and carefully maintained improvements to the energy performance. All proposals being sympathetic to the grade II listed status and in line with EH recommendations or guidance contained within PPS 5. All new build extensions and dwellings will be built to standards equivalent to CSH 4.