Residential towers have long been viewed in more pragmatic terms than other forms of architecture. They have commonly been regarded in terms of their functionality alone, as they have been used extensively over the years to address housing shortages. Whilst they continue to provide this extremely important service to society, in recent times there’s been a very welcome reappraisal of how they are viewed, with considerably more focus being given to their design features.

Whilst we wouldn’t wish to be disrespectful of any of the residential architectural in London, we believe it is fair to say that blocks of flats have always been designed to meet purely practical considerations. In this sense, the priority of those drawing up plans for them has always been on ensuring that they are safe, functional and easy to construct.

The above is a perfectly understandable approach, but all the same it is refreshing to see a number of architects broadening the scope of what can be achieved in the design of these structures. At the moment Miami, New York, Paris and London are home to some of the most exciting and ambitious residential tower projects ever to have come into being. Several of the world’s leading architectural practices have created some truly inspirational plans for this form of structure.

In all cases the designs encompass the practical requirements of such buildings, and yet still feature the flair and characteristics that make them stand out. Although a number of these projects are aimed at the higher end of the housing market, the essence of this new approach to style is flowing through work on tower blocks of all requirements.

From our perspective it is, as ever, always important that we allow our work to be informed by this movement. The remarkable projects being carried out around the world in respect of residential towers in particularly shows that there’s always a margin to include style, vision of character in all design work.

We shall follow the development of these projects with great interest, ensuring that the beneficial lessons to learn from the work carry over in the residential architecture work we take on in London.