PTE, acting for Genesis, has just won planning permission for a prominent corner site on the Edgware Road in Barnet. The scheme will provide around 310 mixed tenure homes, including 20 mews houses, as well as commercial space at ground floor level. It is one of several major developments, which are putting Colindale on the map as one of London’s key Opportunity Areas. The challenge was to create a high density residential neighbourhood in a fairly low density area. A 16-storey tower on the corner of the site is complemented by apartment blocks wrapped around a garden square of over an acre. Mews houses with private courtyards line the internal boundaries of the site and provide a transition to the surrounding family houses. The apartments are a modern re-invention of the Edwardian mansion block and are faced in brick and terracotta. Work is due to start on site in March 2011.