Octopus Real Estate, part of Octopus Group and a leading UK specialist real estate lender and investor, has announced its commitment to building new care home developments that are net zero by 2030, marking the first such pledge across the care home industry. In addition to funding new developments to
The development of a modern retirement village in the Havering area of London has taken a major leap forward. Demolition has begun on the former Solar, Serena and Sunrise Courts site to make way for the sheltered accommodation. Local supplier Downwell Demolition is delivering the work. When complete, the site
The refurbishment of two tower blocks, together with the construction of a new low rise apartment block to create 224 one- and two-bedroom independent living apartments in Nottingham benefited from Profile 22’s Optima windows. As a Category A subcontractor with Willmott Dixon the company was invited to tender for a
The £35m Castle View Windsor urban retirement development has been completed on time and to budget following a two year build and fulfilling a dream by entrepreneur and developer, Robin Hughes, who wanted to create a retirement home ‘good enough for Mum’, 85 year old Betty Hughes. One of the
Wrightstyle is shortly to supply advanced glazing systems to a £7.5 million state-of-the-art care home being built by Deeley Construction. Wrightstyle will be installing fire-rated screens and doors at the Woodside Care Village, an inspirational new care home in Warwick which will provide care for 72 older people and people
Equity release provider Pure Retirement, the fastest growing company in Yorkshire, will be taking 12,575 sq ft of office space in Paradigm at Thorpe Park Leeds, a regeneration scheme that is being developed by partners Scarborough International Properties and Legal & General. It has agreed on a 10-year lease to
Octopus Real Estate, part of Octopus Group and a leading UK specialist real estate lender and investor, has announced its commitment to building new care home developments that are net zero by 2030, marking the first such pledge across the care home industry. In addition to funding new developments to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030, Octopus will make significant investments into its existing portfolio of 71 care homes across the UK to retrofit these properties. It has committed to making these care homes and 13 properties currently under construction net zero by 2040. The pledges will ensure Octopus, as a leading investor and landlord in UK care homes, is driving the industry towards higher energy efficiency standards. The two net zero commitments were met with unbridled support from the institutional investors who invest in Octopus’ care homes strategy, demonstrating the demand among pension funds, insurers, sovereign wealth funds and family offices for assets that are contributing to the UK’s energy transition requirements. The commitments also reflect Octopus Group’s commitment to reach net zero by 2030. As part of its commitments, where needed, Octopus will work to minimise and offset the embodied carbon in the construction process of its new developments, including through UK Government-approved, high-quality certified carbon sequestration projects. Michael Toft, Care Home Senior Fund Manager, Octopus Real Estate, commented: “We are incredibly proud to be the first investor and landlord in UK care homes to commit to net zero targets. We see it as a natural extension of our role as a leading player in the care home sector and our passionate belief as a Group that people and the planet deserve better. Our commitments place us ahead of both the UK Government’s net zero targets and the Paris Agreement targets. Octopus Real Estate’s investors overwhelmingly supported these pledges, mirroring their overarching support for our care home strategy, which helps them to achieve genuine impact for society while generating financial returns.” Benjamin Davis, CEO, Octopus Real Estate, commented: “This announcement fits into wider sustainability initiatives within Octopus Real Estate, including our Greener Homes Alliance with Homes England, which is funding the development of energy efficient homes across England. It reflects our strident belief that companies will increasingly be judged on how they are building a better tomorrow and should be seen as a clear marker of intent for our objectives and strategy. We have been delighted with the stamp of approval we have received from our investors for this approach so far.” The Octopus care homes strategy offers institutional investors an impact investment opportunity – achieving social benefits for the ageing population through investing in elderly care homes and specialist care. The strong fundamentals of healthcare infrastructure investment, including sustainable, inflation-linked income, risk-adjusted returns, and supportive demographics, continue to attract significant institutional investor demand.
The development of a modern retirement village in the Havering area of London has taken a major leap forward. Demolition has begun on the former Solar, Serena and Sunrise Courts site to make way for the sheltered accommodation. Local supplier Downwell Demolition is delivering the work. When complete, the site will become home to 172 new high quality apartments designed for local people who are approaching, or who have reached, retirement age. The building will feature communal facilities, which could include a residents’ lounge, treatment studio for health and wellness, and flexible village hall, which could be open to the wider community to use. There will also be flexible storage space for either bicycles or mobility scooters. Proposed designs for the site show that a large proportion of the apartments will be designed as Wheelchair Adaptable, which includes a larger floor area than average. Hallways and bathrooms will be particularly large to enable accessibility. The plans extend to the garden area, which will have distinct zones to encourage a range of activities, such as relaxation, lawn games, and a community growing area for accessible gardening. A social area will also enable residents to socialise in a safe, welcome and attractive space. This modern project also forms part of the first phase of Havering Council’s 12 Estates joint venture project with national developer Wates Residential. The £1bn programme is set to deliver around 5,000 high quality homes over the next 12 to 15 years, doubling the amount of council rented accommodation and more than doubling the number of affordable homes. Phase one of the 12 Estates project began in July with the demolition of Napier and New Plymouth House in Rainham. In addition to the retirement village, phase one will continue with the Waterloo Estate in Romford in the coming months. “It is great that we have been able to celebrate demolition starting on the second site of our joint venture with Havering Council. The Solar, Serena and Sunrise Court site will deliver new high quality apartments, meeting the needs and aspirations of local people around retirement age,” said Kate Ives, Development Director for Wates Residential. “We are looking forward to continuing our work with Havering Council over the coming months as work progresses across the wider programme, which will deliver thousands of new homes as well as new skills and training opportunities for residents in Havering and the wider area.”
The refurbishment of two tower blocks, together with the construction of a new low rise apartment block to create 224 one- and two-bedroom independent living apartments in Nottingham benefited from Profile 22’s Optima windows. As a Category A subcontractor with Willmott Dixon the company was invited to tender for a contract to fabricate and install windows and doors as part of an £11 million project commissioned by Nottingham City Homes. The fabrication of windows and doors for the apartments were required by the contract. The first part if the installation was the replacement of windows on two tower blocks – Winchester Court and Woodthorpe Court – that have been part of the Nottingham skyline for decades. The second was the installation of new windows and doors on a low rise apartment building being constructed on the same site as the tower blocks as part of the project. Profile 22’s Optima systems fit perfectly within Nottingham City Homes’ Building a Better Nottingham programme, designed to transform people’s lives across the city by providing energy efficient homes that can dramatically reduce fuel bills for residents. The award-winning 70mm system delivers cost-effective thermal efficiency thanks to features such as a 6-chambered outerframe and 5-chambered sash and unique innovations such as additional centre seals. As well as Optima, Select Windows also used PatioMaster sliding patio doors, another product from the Epwin Group’s portfolio, on Winchester Court and Woodthorpe Court. “The tight timescale meant we were swiftly mobilised and needed to work hand-in-hand with Willmott Dixon to ensure everything ran smoothly. All the flats were fitted from mast climbers and because the apertures were full height we had to follow an extremely strict safety protocol which was designed and implemented by Willmott Dixon,” explained Gary, part of the team at Profile 22. “We have been told there have been some exceedingly positive tenant responses and our personnel received numerous compliments about their professionalism and consideration. Our thanks must also go to Willmott Dixon because our element of this contract could not have been completed so successfully without their excellent management and support,” he added. The end result has transformed the Nottingham skyline and created high quality independent living apartments.
The £35m Castle View Windsor urban retirement development has been completed on time and to budget following a two year build and fulfilling a dream by entrepreneur and developer, Robin Hughes, who wanted to create a retirement home ‘good enough for Mum’, 85 year old Betty Hughes. One of the largest and most innovative urban retirement villages in the UK, the Castle Retirement Living development comprises 64 apartments including five rooftop penthouses, along with its neighbouring 72 bed care home, which is being operated by Care UK. From his original dream ten years ago, the founder and CEO of Castle Retirement Living, Robin Hughes spent years buying and assemble different pockets of land in Windsor to create the three-acre urban retirement development site – and originally just armed with a £10k retirement cheque to create his business, won multiple planning permissions, raised the £35m and ran the build with main contractors Castleoak and funding partner Octopus. Says Robin Hughes, Founder and CEO, Castle Retirement Living, who worked in the property and care sector for over 20 years before creating his own vision as an independent retirement developer: “For me, everything about the development from start to finish has been attention to detail in every aspect which has to be ‘good enough for Mum. It had to be right and we couldn’t be late. “Having built four previous retirement villages as development director for Richmond Villages and Shelbourne, I was confident from the outset that with Castle View Windsor, we would finish the project on time to budget and schedule. Many sector projects of this size have been late which is inexcusable. Working collaboratively with Castleoak, our team of 130 contractors on site each day and our excellent project manager, Sam Grimbaldeston, we did it. “Everyone working on the project knew how important quality and completing on schedule was to me, as well as its personal nature. We hosted regular contractor lunches at key stages of the project, the best of which was fish and chips on the roof for the team before the Royal wedding. Good communication is crucial and along with our project update meetings I was on site daily so any issues could be quickly ironed out. We also regularly thanked our construction team for all their hard work and celebrated key project milestones. My Mother is delighted to be in her new home.”
Wrightstyle is shortly to supply advanced glazing systems to a £7.5 million state-of-the-art care home being built by Deeley Construction. Wrightstyle will be installing fire-rated screens and doors at the Woodside Care Village, an inspirational new care home in Warwick which will provide care for 72 older people and people living with a dementia, due to open in 2019. The new home is being built for Warwickshire-based charity WCS Care, and has been designed by local architects Robothams. There will be a relaxing spa, pamper salon, deluxe cinema, and café, as well as table tennis and companion cycling for two, complete with a cycle track. It will also feature a shop and traditional launderette, accessible by an open-air courtyard, as well as the latest technology including circadian rhythm lighting and night-time acoustic monitoring. Designing buildings for older people, particularly for those living with a dementia, involves many challenges for glazing. Floor-to-ceiling windows have been included to maximise light, which can have positive health benefits for residents, and avoid using window frames that block views from the line of sight of people using wheelchairs or who might be sitting down for long periods of time. The windows will provide uninterrupted views from beds which also aids recovery and wellbeing. Tamper proof window restrictors enhance safety and security in rooms. Suppression and containment capacity if a fire breaks out is also an important element in any healthcare facility housing occupants unable to self-rescue, and Wrightstyle has long experience in the UK and internationally in designing and supplying glazing systems to contain fire at source. In the UK, fire safety in residential care premises are subject to strict fire regulations and dealt with under Approved Document B Fire Safety, and fire precautions in England and Wales fall under The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRFSO). While fire suppression is important, the other component is containment – ensuring that any fire remains trapped in one area, and giving staff adequate time to evacuate the building. That’s where advanced glazing systems have a role to play, providing complete protection against fire, heat and toxic gases for up to 120 minutes. Wrightstyle systems, which are specified worldwide, most recently in Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong, can be found in a variety of hospitals and other healthcare facilities. www.wrightstyle.co.uk
Equity release provider Pure Retirement, the fastest growing company in Yorkshire, will be taking 12,575 sq ft of office space in Paradigm at Thorpe Park Leeds, a regeneration scheme that is being developed by partners Scarborough International Properties and Legal & General. It has agreed on a 10-year lease to occupy the top two floors of the building. “Pure Retirement continues to enjoy major growth targeting a quarter of the UK market share in 2019 with £1bn in lending. During the last five years we have quadrupled in size to £21m in turnover with a team soon to total 91. We are forecasting similar growth over the next three years to become one of the UK’s top providers,” said Paul Carter, CEO at Pure Retirement. “To achieve this, we require suitably prestigious headquarters and Paradigm at Thorpe Park Leeds perfectly matches our aspirations. Despite some pressure to relocate to the city centre, we felt that Thorpe Park Leeds delivers the best in terms of accessibility whilst also offering the quality of office space usually restricted to prime plots in the city,” he added. Thorpe Park Leeds is located off junction 46 of the M1 motorway and it consists of 800,000 sq ft of development built and occupied to date. Over 60 blue chip businesses occupy space at Thorpe Park, employing around 4,500 people. “It is good to see that the business, like many before it, has chosen to remain at Thorpe Park Leeds which is testament to the quality of space, environment and business support on offer,” commented on the news Paul Holcroft, head of commercial leasing at Scarborough International Properties. Following a £162 million investment deal with Legal & General Capital, Scarborough International Properties and Legal & General are progressing a transformational 1.35 million sq ft mixed-use expansion at Thorpe Park. Phase two is currently underway and it includes a new 350,000 sq ft retail and leisure park due for completion this autumn. The plan also includes a further 900,000 sq ft of Grade A office accommodation, 300 new residential homes by Redrow and a 113-acre public park with sports facilities.
