The Denton

Location: Berkhamsted

Brick Manufacturer: Michelmersh Brick Holdings PLC

Brick Name: Synthesis S14

Architect: ColladoCollins Architects Ltd

Brickwork Contractor: St Albans Brickwork

The Denton, Berkhamsted, is a 103 apartment Integrated Retirement Community designed by ColladoCollins Architects Ltd for Elysian Residences. Occupying a tree-lined site on the edge of the town, the building is conceived as six modernist pavilions in two pairs of three which create a sunken courtyard at the centre serving the communal facilities which are instrumental in creating a thriving social life for the building and its occupants.

Taking material cues from the surrounding trees and landscape, four of the pavilions are in black brick with a matt bronze metalwork accent, and the two anchor pavilions are in green brick with a black metalwork accent. These colour choices reflect the palette of the surrounding trees at different seasons when viewed against the sky.

Berkhamsted has a long history and involvement with the woollen industry, occupied by wealthy wool merchants and a centre of trade for several centuries. This history of wool production and material manufacture through weaving is embodied in the buildings through the use of a variety of brick bonds across the various facades; basket weave, horizontal and vertical stack bonds, and a bespoke recessed / projecting detail around the courtyard colonnade are used to bring rhythm and interest to the facades of the building where occupants and visitors can get up close and appreciate the various assemblies of brick.

While the pavilions deliberately have a monolithic quality when viewed from a distance, the subtle use of recessed panels and bond details across the facades become evident as you approach the building. The use of the Michelmersh Synthesis S14 black brick, with its variations in surface texture from matt to sheen, and slight differences in colour between dark- and mid-grey enlivens the facades. In contrast to the very linear treatment of the brickwork, the projecting balconies use an alternating wave motif on the balustrades that softens the building and creates a play of leaf-like light and shadow across the facades.

Framing each portal of the colonnade are intricately designed combinations of the various brick bonds used across the scheme, with recessed and projecting panels and lines that combine to demarcate that this is the most populous and engaging area of the building.

Overall the combination of uniformity and contrast, panel and bond, light and shade, create buildings which simultaneously have a muscular presences and a delicacy of detail which, given the durability of the materials, will remain as the natural environment around the site evolves and changes with the seasons and years.