Watkin Jones Strengthens UK BTR Portfolio with Two Major Scheme Completions
Watkin Jones has completed two major Build to Rent (BTR) developments during its 2026 financial year, marking further progress for the residential developer as it continues to deliver large-scale schemes despite challenging market conditions. The completions represent another important milestone for Watkin Jones, which has established a significant presence across the UK’s purpose-built rental and student accommodation sectors. Among the developer’s major BTR projects is Loftlines, a significant residential development that forms part of the wider regeneration of Belfast’s Titanic Quarter. The project demonstrates the scale and ambition of the purpose-built rental schemes now being delivered in major UK cities, combining new homes with the amenity-led approach increasingly associated with modern BTR development. Watkin Jones has also progressed its Tai Afon BTR development in Cardiff, adding further purpose-built rental accommodation to its portfolio and strengthening the company’s presence within the residential market. The latest completions arrive against a demanding backdrop for the UK development sector. Higher construction costs, financing pressures and changing investment conditions have all influenced the pace at which new residential projects can be funded and brought forward. Despite these challenges, BTR continues to represent an important area of activity within the UK housing market, supported by demand for professionally managed rental accommodation and continued institutional interest in residential property. For the wider construction and built environment industry, the delivery of major BTR developments also creates opportunities across a substantial supply chain. Large schemes require expertise spanning main contracting and structural construction through to façades, M&E services, fit-out, landscaping and public realm, before moving into long-term property and facilities management following completion. Watkin Jones’ latest progress therefore provides another indication of the continued evolution of the UK BTR sector, particularly in regional cities where large residential developments are increasingly becoming an important component of wider regeneration strategies. With two major BTR schemes reaching completion during FY26, Watkin Jones continues to demonstrate its ability to take substantial residential developments through construction and into operation while navigating a more challenging development and investment environment. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Kennedy Wilson Targets £750m Folio Deal in Major UK BTR Expansion
US real estate investor Kennedy Wilson is set to significantly increase its exposure to the UK Build to Rent (BTR) market after being selected as preferred bidder for Notting Hill Genesis’ £750 million Folio rental portfolio. Kennedy Wilson is understood to have entered exclusivity with Notting Hill Genesis (NHG), with due diligence now set to progress on the proposed acquisition. The portfolio comprises 2,079 rental homes across 15 developments in London and Chelmsford and is currently around 98% let. The transaction would represent another major institutional investment into the UK’s operational BTR and private rented housing market. Around 85% of the Folio homes are located in London, with schemes spread across boroughs including Newham, Greenwich, Southwark, Ealing, Croydon, Barnet and Hammersmith and Fulham. Among the portfolio’s largest assets is Royal Wharf Estate in Newham, where Folio owns 338 homes, while City Park West in Chelmsford accounts for a further 317 properties. Approximately nine in ten homes across the portfolio are one and two-bedroom apartments, while 98% have an EPC rating of C or above. The sale process, known as Project Vanguard, has been run for NHG by UK professional services adviser Deloitte. Kennedy Wilson emerged ahead of rival interest from Hyde Group and a partnership between investor Adira and European asset manager Hayfin. For Kennedy Wilson, the acquisition would build on an already expanding presence within the UK rental housing sector. Its suburban BTR partnership with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, established in 2024, has grown to around 2,000 homes across 23 sites. The scale of the Folio transaction also demonstrates the continuing attraction of established rental portfolios to large institutional investors seeking immediate exposure to income-producing UK residential assets. From a wider built environment perspective, investment of this scale also creates long-term requirements around property management, maintenance, refurbishment, building services and improving the energy performance of residential assets. If completed, the £750 million acquisition would position Kennedy Wilson as an increasingly significant player in UK BTR while adding further momentum to institutional investment across the country’s professionally managed rental sector. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Gilbert-Ash Secures £40m Transformation of RIBA’s Historic London Headquarters
Gilbert-Ash has confirmed its £40 million contract to deliver a major refurbishment and restoration of the Royal Institute of British Architects’ landmark headquarters at 66 Portland Place in Westminster. The extensive programme will transform the Grade II* listed building, upgrading its environmental performance, accessibility and public spaces while protecting the architectural character of one of RIBA’s most important assets. Construction and restoration work is now being undertaken by Gilbert-Ash, with completion scheduled for September 2027. Built in the 1930s, 66 Portland Place requires significant modernisation to its fabric and building services. The project will see ageing services stripped out and replaced, alongside improvements to the external envelope designed to increase energy efficiency and address water ingress. Sustainability sits at the heart of the programme, with the Portland Place redevelopment set to act as a pilot project for the Net Zero Carbon Building Standard. The approach will provide an important real-world test of how ambitious carbon and energy objectives can be incorporated into the sensitive refurbishment of a major listed building. Accessibility will also be substantially improved throughout the headquarters. A new fully accessible entrance is planned on Weymouth Street, while the internal layout and public-facing areas will be remodelled to create a more welcoming and inclusive destination. The café and RIBA shop will be given greater prominence, while new exhibition and events facilities will form part of RIBA’s wider House of Architecture programme. The project brings together a specialist professional team with extensive experience across architecture, heritage, engineering and complex refurbishment. Purcell is architect for the delivery phase, progressing the original concept developed by Benedetti Architects. Gardiner & Theobald is acting as project manager, with Jackson Coles as quantity surveyor. Eckersley O’Callaghan is structural engineer and Harley Haddow is responsible for building services engineering. For Gilbert-Ash, the £40 million contract represents a high-profile addition to its portfolio of complex heritage and cultural projects. More widely, the transformation of 66 Portland Place demonstrates the growing role that retrofit can play in extending the life of significant existing buildings. Rather than replacing an important piece of London’s architectural heritage, the programme aims to retain and restore it while introducing the services, environmental performance and accessibility expected of a modern public building. When completed in September 2027, the renewed headquarters will provide RIBA with a more sustainable and accessible home while preserving the architectural significance of its historic Portland Place address. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Steelwork Underway at 284,575 sq. ft Hillwood Park Luton as Development Takes Shape
Glencar and Hillwood have marked a major construction milestone at Hillwood Park Luton, with structural steelwork now underway across the 284,575 sq. ft industrial and logistics development. Structural steelwork is now progressing across the 16-acre development, marking the latest major phase of construction at Hillwood Park Luton. The milestone was marked with a steel signing on site, bringing together representatives from Hillwood, Glencar and the wider project team, including KAM Project Consultants, UMC Architects and Burrows Graham. Following the completion of enabling works, earthworks, groundworks and essential site infrastructure, structural steelwork is now well underway, with the frames beginning to define the scale and form of the development. Located within the established Sundon Park Industrial Estate, Hillwood Park Luton will deliver eight Grade A industrial and logistics units totalling 284,575 sq ft, with individual units ranging from 14,000 to 80,000 sq ft. The development is being delivered speculatively to provide flexible accommodation for manufacturing, distribution and e-commerce occupiers and forms an important part of Hillwood’s expanding UK development pipeline. The scheme is targeting BREEAM Excellent and EPC A ratings, with sustainability and wellbeing measures incorporated throughout the development to support operational efficiency and long-term occupier requirements. Hillwood Park Luton represents the third consecutive project between Hillwood and Glencar, following the successful delivery of the 335,000 sq ft Crewe 335 development and the 101,860 sq ft Martland Park scheme in Wigan. Peter Goodman, Managing Director at Glencar, said: “The start of structural steelwork marks a significant stage in the delivery of Hillwood Park Luton, with the scale and form of the development now becoming increasingly visible across the site. “A significant amount of work has gone into reaching this stage, from our early involvement during pre-construction through to the groundworks and infrastructure delivered over recent months. The focus for our project team is now on maintaining that momentum as we progress the superstructure and subsequent phases of construction. “As our third scheme with Hillwood, the project also demonstrates the strength of the working relationship between our teams and the benefits that continuity and early collaboration can bring to delivery.” Greg Dalton, Development Director at Hillwood, said: “With steelwork now beginning to rise across Hillwood Park Luton, the scale of the development is becoming increasingly apparent. This milestone reflects the progress being made by Glencar and the wider project team. The development will bring forward eight high-quality, sustainable industrial and logistics units in an established and well-connected location, adding further Grade A accommodation to our growing UK portfolio. We look forward to seeing the scheme continue to take shape as we move towards completion.” Hillwood Park Luton is situated northwest of Luton, with access to Junction 11A of the M1 and connections to the A5 and A6. London Luton Airport is less than seven miles from the development, with Leagrave railway station approximately 1.2 miles away. Practical completion remains targeted for Q1 2027. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Pick Everard launches action plan to help designers and specifiers make better material choices
Multi-disciplinary consultancy Pick Everard has developed new guidance to help project teams identify opportunities to retain, reuse and specify materials more effectively. Structured around the RIBA Plan of Work (but equally applicable for infrastructure and other assets), Pick Everard’s new Material Playbook sets out the actions project teams can take at each stage to reduce waste, lower embodied carbon and keep materials in use for longer – all with the goal of driving whole life value. Tim Danson, director of sustainability and energy at Pick Everard, said: “One of the biggest challenges for sustainable material management is that historically, responsibility fell between different disciplines, teams and stages of a project. “This Playbook provides a practical, step-by-step framework to help designers, engineers and specifiers make better and more collaborative decisions, make those decisions earlier in the project lifecycle, and thereby afford the greatest opportunity to reduce a project’s environmental footprint. “Too often, the default response is to specify new materials because that’s what we’ve always done. We want clients and project teams to deeply and robustly challenge that approach by first asking whether materials, technologies and other physical assets can be retained, reused or replaced with a lower-impact alternative that delivers the same performance. Sanitaryware, furniture, flooring, doors and glazing are examples that represent just the tip of the potential iceberg.” The Playbook identifies practical, simple steps that can be taken right from the outset of a project being commissioned, from auditing existing buildings and understanding the value of materials already in place, through to assessing reuse opportunities and selecting lower-impact products. Supporting the guidance is Pick Everard’s in-house Materials Catalogue, a centralised library of sustainable materials and products that provides access to performance, cost, quantity and embodied carbon information. The Catalogue is used as part of planning and design optioneering workshops, enabling project teams to compare material choices and identify solutions that meet technical, commercial and environmental requirements. The release of the Material Playbook comes after Pick Everard played a key role in the development of new guidance from the Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP). ISEP’s guidance, Material Pathway Auditing in the Built Environment, calls on the industry to act now to implement best practice and fulfil its role in a circular and net zero economy. Globally, over 100 billion tonnes of resources are consumed each year. And the proportion of that volume that is subject to some level of circular economy action is – despite our understanding of the impacts – getting worse. The carbon footprint of the global construction industry is therefore expected to double by 2050 if short-term approaches to building design and project delivery continue; this is a model that is also expected to play out in the UK, if we do not see rapid and systemic change. Tim added: “The scale of the challenge means we need to rethink how we approach materials across the built environment. “There is a perception that using reused materials is expensive or difficult, but the reality is that shifts in culture, better data, established reuse marketplaces, and new approaches to procurement have made many solutions accessible and viable today. “By making responsible material decisions now, we can reduce carbon, create efficiencies and deliver projects that leave a positive and lasting legacy. The question every project team should be asking now is not just ‘what materials do we need?’ but ‘what materials already exist and how can we make the best use of them over the full life of our schemes?’” To download the Material Playbook, visit https://www.pickeverard.co.uk/events/material-playbook Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Sheffield’s £46m Nursery Street BTR Scheme Takes Shape as Structural Works Advance
Construction is gathering pace at the £46 million Nursery Street Build to Rent (BTR) development in Sheffield, as structural works progress on a scheme set to bring new purpose-built rental homes to a prominent brownfield site in the city. The development is transforming the former Coroner’s Court site on Nursery Street, replacing previously developed land with a new residential scheme designed specifically for the rental market. Plans for the site include 101 BTR homes, comprising 31 studios, 35 one-bedroom apartments and 35 two-bedroom apartments. The development also incorporates a range of resident amenities, including a gym, co-working facilities, a recording studio, communal kitchen space and cycle parking. With structural construction now advancing, the project is moving into an increasingly visible phase, adding to the pipeline of new residential development reshaping Sheffield and supporting the continued growth of BTR beyond the UK’s largest cities. Sustainability has also been incorporated into the development strategy. Earlier project information outlined proposals for air source heat pumps, photovoltaic panels and low-energy lighting as part of a drive to deliver homes to high energy performance standards. The scheme has also attracted public investment, with South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority documentation previously approving £1.7 million of grant support towards the development. The authority highlighted the regeneration benefits of bringing a derelict brownfield site back into productive use while delivering new rental accommodation and improving the surrounding area. Nursery Street comes at a time when Build to Rent is playing an increasingly important role within the UK residential development market, particularly in regional cities where demand continues for professionally managed, amenity-led rental accommodation. For Sheffield, the development represents more than the delivery of new apartments. By regenerating an underused urban site and combining new homes with shared facilities and energy-efficient building technologies, the project contributes to the wider evolution of the city centre residential market. As the structure continues to rise, Nursery Street is set to become another significant addition to Sheffield’s expanding BTR landscape. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals