'The Forest'

Four floors of forgotten office space become the city's most ambitious residential transformation. Nature included.

2025

Commercial Residential

A once tired office block turned into living landmark — a place where architecture and ecology share a postcode. It’s smart, sustainable, and unapologetically green. Because when cities evolve, buildings should too.

Overview

Picture living in the heart of a thriving city, but your house looks like something lifted straight from the amazon (sort of). A concierge that knows your name. Your gym is downstairs, not across town. 'The Forest' takes everything frustrating about city living and fixes it. This isn't about cramming flats into an old office block—it's about creating 72 homes where urbanity and tranquility meet, where brutalist bones get dressed in contemporary cladding, where the morning commute means taking the lift downstairs.

Location

Derby City Centre

Status

Under Construction

Client

T&T Asset Group

Services

Architectural Design

Planning

3D Visualisation

Area

15,000 sqft

We’d say “bringing the outside in,” but that phrase has suffered enough. We’re just covering a building in plants because, frankly, it looks brilliant.

Thousands of square metres of concrete frame, structurally perfect but aesthetically....challenged. Rather than demolish and start again (environmentally criminal, financially foolish), we're wrapping it up. 'Stone' rainscreen cladding and Travertine finished render bring the building into the 21st century without breaking the clients bank account; premium finishes cleverly designed to use what's there already. But the show-stopper? Living walls that climb five storeys, turning service cores into vertical gardens. Actual gardens. Growing. Changing.

The concierge desk isn't for show—it's for parcels, problems, and making life smoother. The gym means no more January queues or intimidating weight sections. Private dining room for when your flat's too intimate but restaurants too public. Meeting rooms and breakout spaces with booth seating for everything from morning coffee to evening drinks. This is infrastructure for modern living, not tick-box amenities.

72 Homes. Not just Houses.

Studios where you can swing more than a cat. One-beds with kitchens for people who cook, not just reheat. Two-beds where the second bedroom fits a bed without the furniture Tetris. Storage that...exists. And lots of windows. Let's just say you won't need the big light at 3pm.

The living walls provide natural cooling and improve air quality—you'll breathe the difference. Enhanced thermal performance through intelligent facade design means lower bills, not just lower emissions. Dedicated basement parking, cycle storage and even a place for scooters. This isn't about saving the planet (though that's nice). It's about saving money and breathing better.