Plans Revealed for Redevelopment of Stirling Road Dump

'Greenest ever' skyscrapers to be built entirely from recycled materials

CGI of how South Acton rubbish dump development might look

April 1, 2021

Plans for the redevelopment of Ealing Council’s Stirling Road Recycling Centre in South Acton into what is being described as the greenest ever tower block development have been revealed.

The massive scheme with three towers of 28 storeys is aiming to exclusively use recycled materials in a radical design which will be the first of its kind anywhere in the world.

In what is being billed as an homage to the current layout of the recycling centre, different building methods and materials will be used for each of the three towers.

The first tower dubbed Maison de Paille, will be on the exact spot currently used by residents to deposit garden waste. Cuttings and other green waste which is being left by residents is already being sent to a special facility where it will be treated and bake to produce highly durable building materials for the structure of the skyscraper.

The second tower will be on the site where the container in which people currently place wood products. It will be called Maison de Bois and be of a more angular design compared to the curvaceous Maison de Paille.

The third tower, Maison de Brique, will use material from the general waste compacter which is place into kilns to produce building blocks of a resilience which is guaranteed to exceed that of more traditional building materials.

The development is to be car free with no onsite parking spaces but the metal collected at the site will be used to make the development’s 500 cycle racks.

There will be just over 800 flats in the new development with a mixture of studios, one bedrooms and more one bedrooms with prices expected to start in the region of £450,000. 25% are expected to be classed as ‘genuinely affordable’ and will be available to purchase by qualifying borough residents at 80% of market price (no discount on £2,000 per annum service charge).

The design is the brainchild of the avant garde Paris based architectural boutique, Trois Petits Cochons. The firm is one of the leading lights in the radical school of ‘found architecture’ in which buildings are constructed from discarded items in the local area. This means that unlike any other form of architecture the construction process is negative carbon particularly as the machinery used on site will be powered from oils left at the recycling centre and cooking oil from local restaurants.

The firm’s spokesperson and head of deconstructive construction, Avril Amadan said, “We have a proud record of a third of our buildings still standing and our work here will be truly visionary and the world will be stunned but that reaction will be as nothing to that when we reveal what we are going to build new housing on the Acton Sewage Works from.”

The safety and permanence of the buildings will be reviewed by structural engineering consultancy BB Wolfe. Spokesman for the firm, Hoosa Frayed said, “We have long experience in this field and our staff are highly incentivised to identify any weaknesses. We haven’t submitted our final report but would suggest that the affordable housing is probably best placed in the block made from garden waste and, although we accept chimneys will be attractive design feature, we are strongly advising that log fires should not be used.”

Stirling Road Refuse and Reuse. Picture: Google Streetview

What has been described as a wide ranging and extensive consultation has been held prior to the planning application being submitted with a notice placed in the local newspaper. The feedback has been ‘overwhelmingly positive’ with 50% of respondents to the official consultation email address saying they could provide a large amount of investment following the death of their uncle who was the chief executive of an African state bank.

Concerns that there will be an increase in flytipping following the closure of the recycling centre have thoroughly disproven with the publication of a specially commissioned report by research firm, Wodjer Wannurse Toussais which shows that reducing the opportunity for residents to recycle increases the level of recycling in an area. In addition given that much flytipping is of commercial building waste this will provide an ample supply of materials for the project.

There is expected to be a some opposition to the scheme. A spokesperson for a local residents’ association said, “All this nonsense about buildings made from rubbish is straight from a fairy tale. There is no chance they will get approval – not by the hair of my chinny chin chin.”