A Docklands Light Railway train approaching The Refinery's brick-clad tower in West Silvertown, London

76 homes · completed 2019

The RefineryFaçade packageWest Silvertown · London E16

Dmitro Facades Ltd delivered a façade subcontract package of SFS framing and GRC cladding scope at The Refinery, a 76-home development for Southern Housing Group beside the Docklands Light Railway in West Silvertown.

01 · The completed development beside the Docklands Light Railway viaduct in West Silvertown.

At a glance

Package: SFS framing & GRC cladding
Address: 1 Knights Road, West Silvertown
Client: Southern Housing Group
Main contractor: Hollybrook
Completed: 2019

Dmitro Facades Ltd delivered a façade subcontract package of SFS framing and GRC cladding scope at The Refinery, 1 Knights Road, working within Hollybrook's wider development of 76 homes for Southern Housing Group. The site sits beside an operational Docklands Light Railway viaduct, with construction logistics agreed under Transport for London requirements. Stockwool was the architect and Barrett Mahony the civil and structural engineer; the scheme was completed in 2019.

Part of: Façade packages across East London

The Refinery's brick tower seen from street level beneath the Docklands Light Railway viaduct in West Silvertown

Built beside a live Docklands Light Railway viaduct.

Construction ran under an operating DLR line into Royal Docks, with demolition, temporary works and site logistics agreed under Transport for London's infrastructure-protection requirements.

Aerial view of The Refinery’s brick tower with rooftop solar panels, beside a lower block with a landscaped roof garden

Rooftop plant and solar panels above the lower block’s communal roof garden.

The Refinery’s tower seen from beside the elevated Docklands Light Railway as it curves towards Royal Docks

The Docklands Light Railway curving past the site towards Royal Docks.

The wider scheme

76 homes on a former industrial site in the Royal Docks.

The Refinery replaced a vacant industrial warehouse on a 0.212-hectare site with 76 homes for Southern Housing Group, sixty of them marketed for Shared Ownership, as part of the wider regeneration of West Silvertown and the Royal Docks.

The scheme's energy strategy included rooftop photovoltaic panels, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery and a communal heat network, with provision for a future connection to the Royal Docks district heating network. A below-ground attenuation tank and raised ground-floor levels were designed to manage the site's Flood Zone 3a location.

The Refinery's show home, styled around West Silvertown's industrial heritage in metal finishes and leather detailing, was Highly Commended in the Best Show Home category at the 2020 First Time Buyer Readers' Awards. The recognition was for Southern Home Ownership's show home, not for Dmitro's façade package.

Street-level view of The Refinery’s brick and stone tower base, with ground-floor commercial units and steel bollards

The tower’s brick and stone base, with ground-floor commercial units at street level.

Close view of brick and stone facade detailing where The Refinery’s tower meets its lower five-storey block

Brick and stone detailing where the tower steps down to meet the lower block.

Landscaped podium and communal garden

The development's landscaped podium gives residents shared outdoor space above the reinforced-concrete frame, including a children's play area overlooked by balconies on the lower block.

The Refinery's landscaped podium garden, with a timber-and-turf play area overlooked by residents' balconies — The landscaped podium garden, with a children's play area overlooked by residents' balconies.

Closer view of The Refinery's podium garden lawn and timber play area, balconies rising above — A closer view of the same podium garden and its play area.

The Refinery, complete in West Silvertown.

1 Knights Road, West Silvertown, London E16

Architect: Stockwool
Civil & structural engineer: Barrett Mahony
Planning consultant: Rolfe Judd
Dmitro on site: 2018–2019

Part of: Façade packages across East London