Location - New Walk, Leicester

Client - Marble Homes

Our Role - Architect

Project Value - £2.1m

The Oval has revitalised one of the few unused parcels of land on Leicester’s historic New Walk into a high quality, 54 bed student accommodation scheme. The unique, 200-year-old pedestrian avenue is a designated conservation area and required a sensitive architectural approach.

Much of the design inspiration was drawn from the surrounding Victorian villas, in terms of massing, articulation and the level of richness in architectural detailing. A simple palette of materials was chosen, including gault brick and zinc, and these were combined with zinc shingle cladding to the upper floors and entrance. 57 New Walk was also designed to work sympathetically alongside existing mature trees, turning them into an asset and enabling a non-standard plan for the building’s footprint, which resulted in the creation of double aspect studios.