Project: Development Of 7nr Houses At Former Coal Yard, Scunthorpe
Sector: Affordable Housing (Design & Build)
Client: Platform Group
Architect: BSB Architecture
Location: Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire
Handover Date: December 2021
Project Team: George Sowerby (Project Manager), Ashley Clay (Site Manager)
The project was a development of seven three-bedroom and two-bedroom houses comprising a terrace of three, and a terrace of four with dedicated off-road parking to the front. The houses all enjoy good-sized private gardens to the rear, and due to the brownfield nature of the site and its previous use, a comprehensive scheme of remediation was undertaken in the garden and landscaped areas, with hundreds of tonnes of certified soil brought to the site.
The properties’ exterior design evoked an Edwardian aesthetic, in keeping with surrounding houses, with features such as bay windows, joined to tiled canopies over the front doors with timber posts and detailing; windows designed to mimic top-hung casements with glazing bars; and pre-cast cills and window surrounds. An exceptionally high standard of external and internal finish was achieved throughout.
A cast in-situ raft solution was implemented for the foundations as the poor ground conditions of the site meant traditional strip foundations would not be feasible.
Cast in-situ concrete rafts were designed by the structural engineers and these were constructed on site.
The new homes were traditional brick and block cavity wall construction, incorporating 150mm cavities full-filled with Dritherm 32 ‘ultimate’ insulation, which helped improve the properties’ thermal efficiency to exceed Part L1A Targets. This was part of the ‘fabric first’ approach which was taken, which also included the use of blockwork in the external walls with an extremely low thermal conductivity, as well the inclusion of A-Rated Boilers and Smart Electric and Gas Meters in the properties. These factors contributed to the properties achieving ratings of ‘B’ for Energy Efficiency (84) and CO2 emissions.
G. Sowerby Developments had extensive involvement in the planning and design of the scheme, acquiring the site, obtaining planning permission on it and presenting the scheme to Platform as a development opportunity, negotiating a contract to deliver the site. The properties were all constructed in accordance with Platform’s required specification.