It’s a kind of magic
Hope development and along the Thames for inspiration.
The Lantern Room will be part of the 1595 Club, to include a 25-metre swimming pool, steam room and gym as well as an additional business centre.
There will also be a private cinema, restaurant with river views and 24-hour concierge for residents of the industrialstyle apartments, which will have glass and metal panels that can be moved to create flexible living spaces.
These include suites, lofts and apartments with one, two or three bedrooms, and prices starting from £395,000 (020 7637 0800; goodluckhope.com).
This home-work space trend is also happening outside London, because of a demand for flexible working and as a reaction to the cost of commuting.
In Kent, Crest Nicholson Eastern is building live/work homes in the fourth phase of the new village of Finberry – the Village Centre – just south of Ashford.
Designed for people who own a small business or dream of setting one up they were inspired in particular by the rising number of start-ups in Kent.
“There are a large number of small businesses and start-ups in the county, with 89.8 per cent of businesses in Kent classed as “micro-businesses”, meaning they have just 0 to 9 employees,” explains Annette Cole, sales and marketing director at Crest Nicholson Eastern. “We’ve created the live/ work units to meet demand in Kent for new styles of homes to suit adapting lifestyles.”
The homes have open-plan living space on the first and second floors with purposebuilt workspace on the ground floors and are on sale from £385,000 (01233 223133; crestnicholson.com).
Councillor Paul Clokie, Ashford Borough Council portfolio holder for planning, adds: “From the outset of the Finberry project, we were keen to see a number of homes with ground floor workspace.
“They add to the character of the emerging local centre and provide opportunities for people to start up a business in high quality surroundings.”