If you’ve walked through redeveloped parts of London recently you may have noticed an eerily similar type of building. Every edge is so crisp and flat that staring at it face-on gives you the weird sensation the world has temporarily turned 2D. This single style has emerged as the hegemonic default for housing developments in London. Dubbed New London Vernacular (NLV), it has three key markers: lots of brick, deep-set portrait windows and flat facades. The name is utilitarian, to match its attitude: new London to mark its age and location, and vernacular to describe its defining purpose, which is to speak broadly the same dialect as some of the capital’s most valuable properties.
NLV is catnip to planners, who have had to abide by the London Housing Design Guide since 2010. This guide spells out exactly what the NLV should be: “great background architecture”. It came from the desk of the then mayor of London, Boris Johnson, whose mark on the face of London’s contemporary housing stock will long outlive the expensive wallpaper on the walls of No 10. Developers are drawn to the discretion offered by NLV because everything from a studio flat to a penthouse can be slotted into these facades, meaning they can appeal to a variety of buyers.
