Upper Mount Housing, Chatham

Designing homes with purpose and place

A compact residential development that balances privacy, density, and community in an urban hillside setting.

What can be done with a long, narrow, redundant public car park near the centre of Chatham? Located on a steep, landlocked site in Chatham, Upper Mount Housing is a thoughtful answer to urban infill challenges. LBY Architects were commissioned to deliver a design that would create high-quality homes with minimal visual impact, while responding to the topography and surrounding neighbourhood fabric.

The result is a distinctive cluster of homes that feel private and elevated yet well connected to the street and each other.

Compact Form, Clear Identity

The scheme includes:

A mix of terraced house types
Efficiently planned internal layouts with generous glazing
Private outdoor terraces and small communal garden spaces

Each home is individually legible, but the group shares a coherent material and design language of clay and glazed brick, and subtle detailing to create a strong residential identity with links to the heritage of the nearby conservation area.

Illustration of a modern multi-story apartment building for Upper Mount Housing with trees and parked cars in front.

Topography as a Design Driver

The site’s steep incline shaped the massing and circulation strategy. Homes are staggered along the slope, maintaining views and natural light while minimising overlooking.

The stepped form and section allowed for:

Tiered landscaping and soft boundary transitions
A sculptural streetscape that avoids bulk or repetition and provides rhythm in its terracing

The concept works successfully with the newly-adopted Medway Design Code, and provides a large proportion of the social housing requirement for the Mountbatten House