One Housing Group Limited (City Style) has completed a £26 million scheme in Lewisham, South London. Designed by PRP, the development provides 92 new homes, including 64 for older people, 26 homes for sale, and an additional two family houses for social rent on a separate site at Blessington Road.
A new 306-home student accommodation development in Acton, west London, approached completion and it now stands at 7-storeys, offering 306 studio apartments complete with communal spaces including a café, student lounge, arcade and gym. Developed by Tide Construction and its offsite manufacturing company Vision Modular Systems, Chapter White City is
Kier Construction will be continuing to grow its industrial portfolio with the latest appointment to deliver a £39 million regional distribution hub facility in Wixams, Bedford, for developers UK Land and Property. The facility will be occupied by B&M Retail Ltd and will serve as its Southern Distribution Centre. The
CALA Homes, one of the UK’s most upmarket major homebuilders, has agreed a partnership with the nation’s fastest broadband provider. It will offer residents day one access to gigabit broadband speeds across its new housing developments in West Scotland. The partnership will see Hyperoptic, the largest gigabit provider in the UK,
Willmott Dixon will be delivering a £46.5 million new home for the School of Engineering within the University of Birmingham. Construction work for the development, which will accommodate both the School and the UKRRIN Rail Digital Systems Innovation Centre, will begin in August. The building will offer a variety of
COS has announced the opening of its latest London store this Autumn at the historic Coal Drops Yard in King’s Cross, an innovative shopping and lifestyle district designed by leading architectural firm, Heatherwick Studio. The Coal Drops Yard store marks an exciting milestone for COS. Having firmly established its legacy
The £3.5 million community facility in Bicester, Oxfordshire, has officially opened. The Kingsmere Community Centre was built by Deeley Construction on behalf of site owners, Countryside Properties; the project was managed by Buro Four, designed by Robothams and mechanical and electrical engineering (M&E) services were provided by Building Services Design
A new proposal from a National Assembly Committee might require all new-build housing in Wales to be zero carbon. The Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee found that Wales has the oldest housing stock in Europe and that the pace and scale of delivering energy efficient homes needs to
A Reserved Matters Application has been submitted by developer Crest Nicholson for 192 homes and landscaped public open space at Alconbury Weald, Cambridgeshire. Located on the former airfield to the north west of Huntingdon, Crest Nicholson will become the fifth housebuilder to join the growing development of over 5,000 homes.
The first housing development exclusively for clinical staff will open in Salford to help plug an acute staff shortage in the NHS. Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust has teamed up with housing association Salix Homes to provide a 26-apartment complex for doctors, nurses and other clinical staff who work at
One Housing Group Limited (City Style) has completed a £26 million scheme in Lewisham, South London. Designed by PRP, the development provides 92 new homes, including 64 for older people, 26 homes for sale, and an additional two family houses for social rent on a separate site at Blessington Road. Built in 1963, the site was originally home to the Christopher Boone’s Almshouses and has been developed by housing association One Housing in partnership with the Merchant Taylor’s Boone’s Charity. PRP’s design approach revolved around the need to care and protect older people living in Lewisham. It consolidates the existing almshouse accommodation previously situated on two sites and is well located in terms of access to the high street and public transport routes, but also in relation to a residential care/nursing home operated nearby. The building typology is closely aligned with the aspirations and recommendations of the HAPPI report. The older persons accommodation, which has an age restriction of over 57, is configured as a ‘U-shaped’ block that wraps around a central garden courtyard, while the accommodation has been reinvented as dual-aspect apartments, each with its own front door accessed from walkways that overlook the garden. The apartments are generous in size at 10-15% larger than the minimum space standards, and all benefit from bay windows and large balconies. Carefully arranged landscaped areas are at the heart of the development, with a circular, covered walkway that leads to a communal summer lounge, a terraced garden designed as a quieter space for residents, and a garden for those interested in horticulture and vegetable growing. Anne-Marie Nicholson, senior partner at PRP, said: “These state-of-the-art homes have been sympathetically designed by our ‘Later Living’ team with residents in mind, particularly those who are older and desire modern homes with nearby access to care. We have redeveloped the original properties to bring the community together, centred around a beautifully landscaped courtyard that allows for socialising and hobbies. “People spend years building a community for themselves, and this natural bond to one another and to a location should be a key consideration in design terms. Designing with people in mind is at the heart of what we do, and we’re determined to create homes that provide older people with the lifestyle they’ve always had.” PRP’s development consultancy team was appointed alongside the ‘Later Living’ architectural team to provide cost consultancy and project management services as well as planning advice and daylight surveys, enabling PRP to see the project through from conception to completion.
A new 306-home student accommodation development in Acton, west London, approached completion and it now stands at 7-storeys, offering 306 studio apartments complete with communal spaces including a café, student lounge, arcade and gym. Developed by Tide Construction and its offsite manufacturing company Vision Modular Systems, Chapter White City is located on the site of the former Savoy Cinema. “Chapter White City is a fitting tribute to the famous cinema that once stood on the site, and the students that have chosen to make Acton their home will bring a vibrancy to this historic gateway to central London. Our work here with Vision and HTA is testimony to the versatility of modular construction and what it can deliver throughout London and the rest of the country, in both the residential sector, the hotel sector and the student sector,” said Christy Hayes, chief executive officer at Tide Construction. Manufactured by Vision in their purpose-built factory in Bedford, the modules used precision engineering production line techniques designed to streamline the process and deliver a quality end-product at a faster pace of construction. “Chapter White City is a stunning new addition to our growing London student portfolio, completed in time for the start of the 2019 academic year this September. Vision and Tide have perfected the art of modular construction, with Chapter White City standing as proof of the high-quality craftsmanship which can now be achieved by this innovative construction method,” said Troy Tomasik, Managing Director – Investments at Greystar. In addition, Tide and Vision Modular Systems are also onsite in Holloway delivering a 257-home student accommodation scheme for Chapter. Tide Construction Limited is a unique development and contracting company, utilising both traditional and Offsite Manufacturing Methodologies (OSM). The team provides full turnkey building solutions using highly advanced offsite techniques and are market leaders in modular construction.
Kier Construction will be continuing to grow its industrial portfolio with the latest appointment to deliver a £39 million regional distribution hub facility in Wixams, Bedford, for developers UK Land and Property. The facility will be occupied by B&M Retail Ltd and will serve as its Southern Distribution Centre. The equivalent to 12 premier league football pitches, the 21.5 m high, 1 million sq ft warehouse will help meet market demand. The Distribution Centre consists of warehousing and distribution facilities including temperature controlled zones to accommodate chilled and frozen goods, offices, recycling and ancillary areas. There will also be other provisions, including a refuelling area, a maintenance area for vehicles and a gatehouse, surrounding the main building. “First class warehouse space is in real demand and working with UK Land and Property LLP, we are looking forward to delivering this space in a perfectly situated location for deliveries across the country. As the UK is the eighth largest manufacturer in the world, we are proud to be supporting UK businesses and their growth and also help secure thousands of job opportunities in the area,” said Mark Pausey, managing director of Kier Construction Central. “It is an exciting award for Kier and not only is the size of the warehouse going to be impressive, but it also includes 200,000m3 of earthworks and will see us use 4,500 tonnes of steel throughout the build. The finished distribution hub will create around a thousand new jobs and we’ll also be supporting employment growth in the local area throughout the build,” he continued. The news on the Distribution Centre follows on the announcement that Kier will be building a major extension to the Telford-based Müller factory. The £10 million project will see Kier double the size of the existing site and enable Müller to significantly increase its yoghurt production.
CALA Homes, one of the UK’s most upmarket major homebuilders, has agreed a partnership with the nation’s fastest broadband provider. It will offer residents day one access to gigabit broadband speeds across its new housing developments in West Scotland. The partnership will see Hyperoptic, the largest gigabit provider in the UK, install its services across its seventeen new housing sites. The development locations include Strathaven, Newton Mearns, Glasgow, Bearsden, Cumbernauld and Larbert. Hyperoptic’s full fibre cables go all the way to the building, which is why it can offer symmetrical gigabit broadband services – over 22x faster than the average broadband speed in Scotland. Many competitor fibre networks only go as far as a cabinet in the street, relying on slow copper cables from there to the building; this means a lower speed that also varies according to where you live along the street. Hyperoptic is rolling out the largest gigabit network in the UK. Its full fibre network is already live in Glasgow and Edinburgh, passing over 15,000 homes and businesses. This partnership with CALA Homes includes over 1,800 homes. Liana Canavan, Sales and Marketing Director for CALA Homes (West): “We pride ourselves on being renowned as a premium housebuilder. This reputation is built upon our commitment to give our customers the best living experience possible. This partnership addresses and exceeds the digital needs of our future residents. Being able to immediately get online, via the fastest broadband connection in the UK, is just phenomenal. This information will be incredibly well received by our future customers and will positively impact their move-in experience.” Sharon Maybury, National Manager, Hyperoptic, adds: “This partnership with CALA Homes enables us to expedite our Scottish expansion via installing our services at the build stage. Hyperoptic is committed to lead the charge to Gigabit Scotland. We announced our intention to expand our full fibre network to Scotland in 2015. Since then we have been working steadily to expand our footprint, with the aim of connecting hundreds of thousands of Scottish residents in the coming years.” The first development due to be completed is 21 Mansionhouse Road, a magnificent collection of 101 luxury apartments and penthouses in one of south Glasgow’s most sought-after neighbourhoods. For more information, please visit: https://www.cala.co.uk/homes-for-sale/west-of-scotland/21-mansionhouse-road About Hyperoptic Hyperoptic was founded in 2011 to shake up the UK broadband market and is now the country’s largest and fastest-growing gigabit network provider. It delivers the nation’s fastest broadband speeds of up to 1Gbps (1,000 megabits per second), which is over 22x faster than the UK average. Hyperoptic is a leader in “full” fibre optic technology, delivering fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) not just fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC). Its future-proofed infrastructure is bringing transformational internet speeds and connection stability to millions of people across the UK. Hyperoptic works with property owners, developers and professionals, designing and installing dedicated fibre infrastructure to new buildings and existing developments. It focuses exclusively on urban areas, often in areas neglected by other providers and network builders. The company has been awarded ‘Best Superfast Broadband’ provider by the Internet Service Providers’ Association for the past six years in a row, and was crowned the ‘Most Innovative Provider’ in the 2017 Broadband Genie home broadband survey. For more information visit: www.hyperoptic.com
Willmott Dixon will be delivering a £46.5 million new home for the School of Engineering within the University of Birmingham. Construction work for the development, which will accommodate both the School and the UKRRIN Rail Digital Systems Innovation Centre, will begin in August. The building will offer a variety of contemporary and flexible design and research spaces, which were designed by Birmingham-based Associated Architects and will act as an incubator for innovation and strengthens teaching and research partnerships. Moreover, office, meeting and lab spaces will be arranged around a generous atrium containing flexible learning environments that will also enable greater collaboration between staff and students. “This new building represents a celebration of engineering and will be a centrepiece of our new engineering hub. The ongoing collaborative relationship that we have with Willmott Dixon, along with the quality of delivery of their completed projects, gives us significant confidence that they will deliver this landmark building,” said Daniel Holmes, University of Birmingham. “The School of Engineering has been designed, and will be delivered, with collaboration between the University and industry at its heart, enabling research and teaching excellence to be celebrated and showcased,” he continued. Featuring exposed structural elements such as supports, pipework and services, the building’s interior will a practical display of its own engineering. On the outside, the facility will feature a half-brick, half-clad facade to provide a strong visual impact, with visual cues taken form railway lines and trackside signalling that connects it to its core specialism. “The new School of Engineering provides a clear visual statement for the University. It will be driving interest in the STEM subjects, something that we will be supporting ourselves through the creation of opportunities for work placements,” said Nick Gibb, Deputy Managing Director for Willmott Dixon in the Midlands. Earlier this year, Willmott Dixon was chosen to to deliver the University’s Teaching and Learning Building, scheduled for completion in 2020. Together with this latest contract, the company is delivering over £90 million worth of work for the University.
COS has announced the opening of its latest London store this Autumn at the historic Coal Drops Yard in King’s Cross, an innovative shopping and lifestyle district designed by leading architectural firm, Heatherwick Studio. The Coal Drops Yard store marks an exciting milestone for COS. Having firmly established its legacy of artist collaborations which celebrate the brand’s influences from the fields of design and architecture, COS will share its inspirations and interests in one hybrid space, unveiling a reimagined store concept, and offering a wholly unique brand experience. The store will act as a multifunctional platform which will host works from established and emerging artists, while integrating independent wellbeing, lifestyle brands and publishing houses alongside handpicked edits from the COS collection. Situated inside the listed section of this transformed former Victorian industrial yard, the space spans across three floors and 577sqm (6210 sq ft). The interior follows the COS aesthetic, whilst respectfully acknowledging the historical details of the original building. Coal Drops Yard is the new shopping and lifestyle district in London’s King’s Cross. Originally established in 1850 to handle the eight million tonnes of coal delivered to the capital each year, and latterly the location of nightclubs Bagley’s and The Cross, the area is now reopening, reinvented by the acclaimed Heatherwick Studio, which has interwoven a contemporary design with the surviving structures, streets and rich ironwork of the original Victorian coal drops that were located on the site. Coal Drops Yard will now be home to over fifty stores, top restaurants and cafés and new public spaces, making it an oasis-like space for visitors to dwell, discover and explore. Special in-store events, workshops, pop-ups and talks will all feature as part of an ongoing programme of activities. The stores themselves will be showcases for some of the world’s most forward-thinking retailers, each an experience and all one-off concepts created using the unique heritage spaces they sit within. With its innovative shopping experience, canalside location in the heart of King’s Cross and state-of-the-art architecture, Coal Drops Yard is set to become a magnet for shoppers and visitors from across London, the UK and further afield when it opens this October.
The £3.5 million community facility in Bicester, Oxfordshire, has officially opened. The Kingsmere Community Centre was built by Deeley Construction on behalf of site owners, Countryside Properties; the project was managed by Buro Four, designed by Robothams and mechanical and electrical engineering (M&E) services were provided by Building Services Design (BSD). “We developed an M&E design that would allow for the building to be used for multiple purposes,” said Joel Sawyer, director at BSD. “This is a building designed to perform different roles for different members of the community so we needed to be flexible with our strategy, while ensuring that we created a functional, contemporary space that was sustainable and long-lasting.” Features include offices spaces, a kitchen, youth centre, activity hall and meeting rooms. The main hall is fitted with a roof mounted natural ventilation strategy, as it lacks openable windows. This solution has saved a lot of money when compared to installing air conditioning units. “The ventilation turrets also have an internal solar powered fan, providing additional ventilation during sunnier conditions, boosting air flow and boasting a zero noise level,” added Joel. “We provided a robust design scheme for the youth centre so that it could withstand considerable use over a longer period of time. The radiators have been covered and we used a more malleable material – mild steel pipework – rather than copper to allow them to withstand any potential impact. The lighting is also impact resistant, as are the fire alarm call points. PV panels were also fitted to the roof to allow for electricity independence,” said Joel. Matthew Keegans, senior project manager at Buro Four, also commented on the project: “Community and place making are essential and we are very passionate about getting right within all of our projects. Working with the BSD team, we were able to incorporate innovative solutions to provide a future proofed and sustainable community hub on time and budget.”
A new proposal from a National Assembly Committee might require all new-build housing in Wales to be zero carbon. The Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee found that Wales has the oldest housing stock in Europe and that the pace and scale of delivering energy efficient homes needs to be increased “urgently”. A ten-year low-carbon housing strategy was called by the Committee and it will involve the construction of all new-build homes to zero carbon standards, as well as retrofitting existing housing stock. The strategy also includes: a complimentary planning and building system with low-carbon and energy efficiency at their centres, and supported by rigorous, independent inspection regimes; financial incentives to encourage buyers and owners to buy low-carbon housing and invest in retrofit measures; funding interventions that maximise the impact of Welsh government investment in low-carbon housing; and a fully-trained workforce, ready to construct and improve homes using the latest technologies. The Committee found that the possibility of meeting the Welsh government’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions by 80% by 2050 was “some way off”. “There are many reasons why we should improve the energy efficiency of our housing stock. The most pressing is the need to deliver on legal obligations to eliminate fuel poverty and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases,” said Mike Hedges AM, chair of the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee. “The Welsh Government is required to reduce emissions by 40% by 2018 and by 80% by 2050. Challenging targets need challenging solutions. Reducing the amount of energy we use in our homes will substantially accelerate progress towards these goals. Achieving the targets will require a considerable ramping up of ambition and must span the whole of Wales’ policy levers. We are calling on the Welsh Government to bring forward a ten-year low-carbon housing strategy, including milestones and targets to kick start housing development now and for the future,” explained Mike Hedges.
A Reserved Matters Application has been submitted by developer Crest Nicholson for 192 homes and landscaped public open space at Alconbury Weald, Cambridgeshire. Located on the former airfield to the north west of Huntingdon, Crest Nicholson will become the fifth housebuilder to join the growing development of over 5,000 homes. The new homes benefit from a prominent location on the central hub of the first phase, having been carefully designed to reflect the character of the local area. The green spaces around the homes will be connected by safe cycle and walking routes and a number of public amenities along the Linear Park, including orchards, outdoor table tennis and other games will also be delivered. The houses at Alconbury Weald will be a mixture of one & two-bedroom apartments and four-bedroom townhouses along the green Boulevard. The cricket pitch will be surrounded by townhouses with balconies, while semi-detached and mews properties frame the Linear Park, which follows the line of one of the former airfield’s taxi-ways, creating a safe walk and scoot to school route. Crest Nicholson chose to design the homes with contemporary buff-coloured brick and red brick in order to denote distinct character areas within the development, while being complemented by blue brick and render detailing. Internally, the homes will be light and spacious, and finished to a high specification. “We are excited to have secured the opportunity to become the latest housebuilder to join the growing Alconbury Weald community. With over 5,000 homes, an enterprise zone and a variety of public amenities – including new schools, sports pitches and a health centre – this is truly a visionary project for the wider Cambridgeshire area. Our plans are to deliver a mix of 192 high-quality homes and we look forward to working with Urban&Civic bringing this vision to fruition,” said Toby Lambert, Development Director at Crest Nicholson Chiltern. The application comes forward under the Planning Framework and Design Code set in place by the Outline application for Alconbury Weald. The Crest Nicholson team is working closely with the master developer behind Alconbury Weald, Urban&Civic.
The first housing development exclusively for clinical staff will open in Salford to help plug an acute staff shortage in the NHS. Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust has teamed up with housing association Salix Homes to provide a 26-apartment complex for doctors, nurses and other clinical staff who work at the organisation. It comes after the Trust revealed it was struggling to fill 200 vacancies, with the lack of affordable accommodation one of the barriers to attracting people to the area. Ian Moston, group chief finance officer for Salford Royal, said “Like most organisations in the NHS we have a significant number of vacancies. Our partnership with Salix Homes will provide a major benefit to us in helping to attract people to work and settle in Salford. “For the majority of us, the ability to live close to where we work is an important part of balancing work and home life. Through this partnership with Salix Homes we hope to provide people choosing to come to Salford with good quality, affordable housing whilst they establish themselves in the City on a long term basis. “We hope this venture with Salix Homes is the first of many areas where we believe we can collaborate to improve the health and wellbeing of people living and working in Salford, and the area and can become a template for other communities.” Salix Homes has spent more than £2million converting the former sheltered housing complex Alexander Gardens in Broughton into modern one and two bedroom apartments. The project was partially funded thanks to a £780,000 grant from Homes England Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme. Alexander Gardens on Gorton Street has stood empty since the Boxing Day 2015 floods after the former residents were re-housed when their homes were damaged by the worst flooding to hit Salford in decades. Since that fateful night, extensive flood resilience measures have been implemented within the facility and the wider area to help protect against future floods. Sue Sutton, executive director of operations at Salix Homes, said: “It’s no secret that the country is in the grips of a housing crisis, but it really brings it home when our own local hospital cannot recruit staff due to a severe shortage of suitable and affordable accommodation. “In the year our wonderful NHS turns 70, we are very proud to be able to offer a solution to provide affordable accommodation for doctors, nurses and other health professionals and help ensure our NHS can continue the fantastic work it does for another 70 years and beyond. “We believe this project to be among the first of its kind in the country and shows the importance of the health and housing industries working together to help overcome some of the most critical issues facing our sectors.” Salix Homes, which owns more than 8,000 homes across Salford, has worked alongside its partner contractor A.Connolly Ltd to completely transform and remodel the facility to create 16 two-bedroom and 10 one-bedroom apartments. Salford Royal intends to let the homes to new recruits for a period of six months in a bid to encourage more medical professionals to come to Salford to work, and reduce its reliance on agency staff. The fully-furnished properties, kitted out by north-west based Fusion Furniture, will be let as part of a comprehensive employment package provided by Salford Royal and will be available for single people, couples and families. Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett said: “This unique project is one we are extremely proud of in Salford. Salix Homes and the NHS have worked closely together to pull this together, in conjunction with our bid to Homes England to support the scheme. “There is a national shortage of affordable homes –and a national crisis in housing – so anything that can support the fabulous staff who work tirelessly for the NHS and bring more of their workers to our city is welcomed.” The project has also provided work and opportunities for local people. Chris Connolly, commercial director at contractors A Connolly Ltd, added: “Supporting communities is important to us and we have employed local people through our partnership with Salix Homes, as well as recruiting two apprentices through the Build Salford project. “A.Connolly Ltd is pleased to have played a part in this unique scheme which will enable more medical professionals to live and work in Salford. “Major refurbishment work is in of our key specialisms and we were delighted to be able to use our expertise to support Salix Homes in bringing this building back into use.” The refurbishment and remodelling work is expected to be completed this summer and it’s hoped the first residents will move in during October.
