Construction landmark celebrated at Greenhill Centre, Newham

A significant milestone in the delivery of 81 affordable, low-energy homes at Greenhill Centre in Newham has been marked with an official topping-out ceremony.

Higgins Partnerships was joined by the Mayor of Newham, Rokhsana Fiza OBE and its partners Newham Council to celebrate the progress being made in delivering these new homes, which will achieve Passivhaus Classic certification. This ensures the homes will have reduced energy costs and improved comfort and air quality for residents.

Located in Manor Park, the development features three blocks: an eight storey building, a five storey building and a multi-level building with heights varying from two to seven storeys. Of of the 81 homes, 56 will be available at London Affordable Rent and 25 will be offered for low-cost shared ownership, with partial funding from the Greater London Authority.

Designed by architects Haworth Tomkins, the scheme will also include a new gym space and landscape improvements, with a focus on preserving existing mature trees on the site and creating a new community garden.

Colin Ricketts, Regional Director of Higgins Partnerships commented, “We are proud to welcome the Mayor of Newham here to Greenhill Centre to mark this significant point in the delivery of these affordable homes, which have been designed to ensure residents benefit from increased thermal comfort, improved indoor air quality and lower energy bills.

“As part of our commitment as a socially responsible developer, we are also working closely with the local community to provide a wide range of social value initiatives, including Eat Clubs, volunteering opportunities, community garden and environmental initiatives, working with schools and colleges to provide career and work of work sessions, and community sport sessions.”

Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz OBE said: “This development forms part of our ambition to deliver homes that our people can afford. In the face of this country’s crushing housing crisis, we are making the case to the new government that they need to support councils like Newham to deliver more and more homes.

“I am working with the Cabinet and council officers to make that ambition a reality, along with Higgins Partnerships, who are supporting us on this particular scheme which will deliver 56 new homes at London affordable rent and 25 homes at low-cost shared ownership.

“This is an example of our commitment to deliver more affordable housing and I look forward seeing the completed scheme next Autumn.”

Higgins is also providing a range of apprenticeship and work placement opportunities, throughout the construction of Greenhill Centre. One such apprentice is Mikael Mustafa, a local Newham resident who is now a Business Admin Apprentice in Higgins’ head office and part of the Social Value team.

Mikael shared his experience, saying: “Doing an apprenticeship means I am able to put what I learn in college into practice working in the Social Value team. I really enjoyed maths at school and so use my skills to support the rest of the team by recording all the social value data as well as taking part in a variety of employability volunteering events in the local community.

“Every day brings different challenges which keep me motivated to become better. If I am unsure of anything I can ask my team and Manager for help, and they take their time to explain everything to me. I really enjoy the flexibility and the range of tasks in my role. I am grateful for the support Higgins and Ixion have given me and am hoping to move onto a Level 4 apprenticeship once I have completed my Level 3.”

For further information about Higgins Partnerships please visit www.higginspartnerships.co.uk