Imperial Court's stepped brick tower on the Thames at Rotherhithe, with Canary Wharf across the river

Imperial Court, Odessa Street. Alucobond rainscreen, SFS and Kalzip roofing. Rotherhithe, London SE16.

The team behind Dmitro Development installed the SFS, insulated Alucobond rainscreen and Kalzip standing-seam roofing at Imperial Court, formerly New Pier Wharf, for Hollybrook on the Thames.

01 · Imperial Court's stepped riverside tower at Rotherhithe, with Canary Wharf across the Thames.

At a glance

Package: Kingspan SFS, Alucobond rainscreen, Kalzip roofing
Location: 1–3 Odessa Street, Rotherhithe, London SE16
Developer and main contractor: Hollybrook
In partnership with: Southwark Council
Scheme built: 2017–2019

Imperial Court stands on the Thames at Rotherhithe. The team behind Dmitro Development installed the facade on both of its buildings, from the steel framing to the finished panels and roofs, and drew its construction details.

Part of: Rainscreen and SFS facade packages

Imperial Court's brick riverside building seen from the Thames foreshore at low tide

The riverside building from the Thames foreshore.

Its splayed plan and stepped terraces were designed for daylight, private outdoor space and river views.

Imperial Court's brick riverside elevation beside the Thames, seen from a neighbouring garden

The riverside building seen along the Thames from a neighbouring garden.

Imperial Court seen from the Thames with a river bus passing and the Shard behind

Imperial Court from the river, with the Shard behind.

Silver aluminium tray panels with vertical joints clad around a window and door, the next bay not yet clad

Tray panels running full height around a window and door during installation.

One package, frame to face

01Kingspan SFS, fixed back to the concrete frame
02Sheathing, Rockwool insulation and Tyvek FireCurb membrane
03Corofil cavity barriers, horizontal and vertical
04Alucobond A2 tray panels, screwed, in naturAL Copper and anodised-look C32
05Kalzip 65/400 standing-seam roofs to the duplexes

Looking up at a window framed by silver tray panels, with a metal sill below

Panels returned into the window reveal, with a sill below.

Silver tray panels around a door opening, seen from a mobile work platform

Panels carried over a door opening, seen from a mobile work platform.

Screwed tray panels on rails, over insulation, back to the frame.

Each panel is folded into a tray and screwed to aluminium rails, which stand off the wall on brackets with the insulation behind.

Line drawing of a screwed tray panel, a vertical wall section and a soffit section through the rainscreen build-up — 08 The screwed tray-panel system: the panel, a wall section and a soffit section.

Window heads, panel by panel

The finished facade frames its windows in metal. These three frames, taken during installation, look up into the window heads.

Aluminium reveal liner around a glazed window frame, with metal cladding above — An aluminium liner closing the reveal between the glass and the cladding.

Underside of a window head from below, screw fixings along the folded sides of aluminium trays — Screw fixings along the sides of the trays, seen from directly below.

Corner where a window head meets a full-height aluminium side panel — The corner where the head meets the full-height side panel.

Upper storeys of Imperial Court's riverside tower with long vertical metal fins at its edge

Long vertical metal fins running up the tower beside the brickwork.

Imperial Court's courtyard elevation stepping back in plan above new planting and paving

The courtyard elevation, stepping back in plan above new planting.

Imperial Court's lower block with a standing-seam metal top storey, the riverside tower behind

The lower block, its top storey clad in standing-seam metal.

The scheme

Homes and a public riverside where a derelict wharf stood.

Imperial Court replaced the former Odessa Street Youth Club, the Downtown nightclub and Commercial Pier Wharf. Hollybrook built it under a design-and-build contract, with full planning permission granted on 29 March 2017.

The 74 homes sit in two buildings around a landscaped courtyard: a six-storey block on Odessa Street with 19 homes for social rent, and the stepped twelve-storey riverside building with 55 private homes. New public realm on the waterfront reconnects a missing section of the Thames Path.

Hollybrook's site team won a 2019 NHBC Pride in the Job Quality Award at Imperial Court.