The architects have worked hard, and successfully, to design a City-funded apartment complex that meets a demanding brief and a tight budget, and that should raise expectations of a sometimes traduced type. Social housing necessarily entails modest amenity, but this project demonstrates it is possible to reconcile economy and generosity. Client and architect have not treated this commission as a social experiment; living areas are spacious, kitchens, especially, testify to a sensitive awareness of resident’s needs; and colour is imaginatively deployed. A central space in which children can play testifies to a commitment to community and safety; well-monitored through-paths offer connections to the wider neighbourhood.