Cascades

Cascades

A 20-storey residential tower completed in 1987–1988, designed by CZWG for Kentish Homes Ltd.

The building is constructed on a reinforced concrete frame and clad with facing bricks, pre-cast concrete components, and powder-coated aluminium window frames.

The plan is roughly rectangular with concertina-angled elevations that maximise views of the river to the west and the docks to the east. The footprint recedes northwards with each successive storey, standing at full height of 20 storeys at the north end and sloping down to two storeys at the southern end. The entrance and vertical services and circulation are located at the north end, with fire escape stairs carried down the sloping south side. The block contains 164 single-aspect flats accessed from a central corridor. Flats vary in size from one to three bedrooms, each with a balcony; those facing south have a sun terrace and conservatory. The angled elevations create differently proportioned rooms within each flat due to the gradual change in depth.

The exterior is dominated by the building's sloping profile and facetted plan, onto which are layered banded brickwork, balconies, and windows of various sizes and proportions. Nautical imagery including porthole windows, crows' nests, and funnels alludes to its Docklands setting. The lowest four storeys are detailed in blue engineering bricks with stepped projections in London stock bricks featuring segmental arches, referencing 19th-century Docklands warehouses. These elements alternate with semi-circular balcony turrets of white-rendered concrete. The storeys above are detailed in buff facing bricks with a strip of blue bricks marking every fourth storey. The northern service core is detailed in contrasting brown brickwork.

The sloping south elevation has stepped conservatories in brick with aluminium window frames and a central fire escape stair with white rendered concrete walls and pitched steel canopy. The upper four storeys rise vertically and have funnel-like frameworks affixed to three corners, intended to be glazed though budget constraints prevented this. On the roof, an angled white structure resembling a steamship's smoke stack contains the lift motor. The two-storey projection to the south contains a swimming pool, spa, and conference room, with three white flues at the south end.

The main entrance lobby features brickwork that continues from the front doors, contrasting with smooth, sleek finishes and fixtures. Walls are plastered and painted white; floors are covered in cream marble tiles edged in russet-coloured marble. A concierge's desk with a deep russet-marble counter and red painted steel frame with smooth timber panelling terminates in a circular projection. Behind the desk, the office doorway has a jauntily-eared architrave, and a timber shelving unit with a pigeon hole for each flat is provided. The lobby includes a raised, carpeted lounge to the west overlooking the river. An Art Deco-style font is used on signage throughout.

Internal doors generally have triangular windows, contrasting with porthole windows looking outward. The spinal corridors are plastered with picture rails and chrome uplighters; doorways to each flat have architraves with exaggerated mouldings. The stair to the lobby and the fire escape stair are utilitarian.

A swimming pool occupies the flat-roofed southern projection, lit by a linear glazed lantern continuing the sloped fire-escape stair window. The pool hall is symmetrically laid out with a flight of stairs leading down to a circular jacuzzi inset into the main pool. High-level strips of windows run along either side with a curved bottom corner and slanting glazing bars, echoing the angles and shapes of the exterior and evoking an ocean liner.