We were appointed by Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing to design a scheme for a site on the boundary between the London boroughs of Islington and Hackney. At the corner of Bridport Place and Wiltshire Row, and adjacent to the Regent’s Canal and Rosemary Branch Bridge, our proposals provide 32 high-quality new homes in a range of sizes. The urban strategy reinforces and defines the street frontage, extending the adjacent building lines to form a corner. Given the small plot footprint, we maximised the number of homes on the site by increasing the building height to 11 stories, rising to celebrate the corner and falling away to the south, responding to the height of the adjacent Bridport House. The increased building height allowed us to create homes that capitalised on the wonderful views of the canal and the city. We carefully designed the tower to respond to the characteristics of the existing and emerging townscape. The elevation is carved away to the north to respond to the new axis created within the Colville Estate Masterplan, and each apartment benefits from a generously sized balcony. The building’s brick texture and colour were selected to reflect the surrounding contextual buildings in a contemporary way. Balconies have been arranged in a way that breaks the rhythm established by the windows and capitalises on the long vista views provided by the fantastic canal side location.