Europe's Tallest Modular Residential Building Erected in London

In the London borough of Croydon, a 163-meter skyscraper has been constructed, now recognized as the tallest modular residential building in Europe. This structure, named "College Road," comprises two adjacent towers, one with 50 floors and the other with 35 floors, as reported by Dezeen.

Both towers are adorned with a folded ceramic façade and were assembled using 1,725 volumetric modular units placed around a concrete core. The taller tower houses 817 apartments and various facilities, such as a podcast recording studio, a spa with a sauna, a fitness center, co-working spaces, and even a rooftop garden. The smaller tower accommodates 120 affordable housing units.

Simon Bayliss, the CEO of HTA Design, stated, "Every aspect of the development has been designed to offer residents the most comfortable living spaces and the ability to enjoy truly fantastic communal amenities."

To create an aesthetically appealing street landscape, the building's exterior was adorned with 14,000 glazed tiles designed by Adam Nathaniel Furman. These tiles take on a three-dimensional chevron and rhombus shape, creating a gradient from blue at the bottom to white at the top.

HTA Design aimed to create a building that evoked the architectural heritage of Croydon while utilizing contemporary modular construction. The geometric design of the building was inspired by developments in South London in the 1950s and 1960s, including the brutalist NLA Tower by architect Richard Seifert.

"Revisiting the mid-century modernist style creates a remarkable new geometric landmark, and the building's exterior appearance subtly changes in height due to the varying configuration of ceramic tiles near the base, middle, and top of the tower," noted HTA Design.

In September, unique Ukrainian architecture in Kyiv and Lviv was included on the UNESCO World Heritage List of sites under threat of disappearance. This includes the St. Sophia Cathedral, adjacent monastery structures, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, and the Ensemble of the Historic Center of Lviv.

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee recognized that "two objects of outstanding universal value have remained under constant threat since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022." At the same time, the committee acknowledged the efforts and measures taken by the Ukrainian government to protect cultural heritage sites during the full-scale conflict.