Lawrence Weston Housing

  • Client

    Bristol City Council

  • Contractor

  • Value

    £15.5m

  • Completion Date

    January 2025

The Challenge

The site had buried services that served prior dwellings. These had been isolated but still needed to be worked around when delivering new services: power, water, broadband and Virgin Media infrastructure as well as the ground source heat pumps that would provide sustainable energy to the properties. Intricate planning and delivery were needed to keep things safe – not just for the site but for local residents in situ.

The plot had occupied properties at the front and rear so needed a considerate approach to avoid disturbances for local residents. Access was also a challenge, with a single track road part of access plans to site and a need for road closures that impacted on local residents. Weekly meetings with Bristol City Council and a strong relationship with local community groups kept everyone aware of activity on site and minimised disruption.

The project was located on a steep hill, but there was an aspiration to provide usable outside space to residents.

This meant extensive terracing – lawn was designed to be no steeper than a 1 in 12 gradient! – and the use of many retaining walls, which added to the complexity of the project.

The Solution

Originally conceived pre-pandemic, by the time the project started in 2023 it required value engineering to keep within budget and a review to reflect updates to Part L and Part F regulations. The finished project, however, does not scrimp on quality. All properties were connected to broadband prior to occupation, modern and sustainable facilities such as cycle stores and EV charging points are provided to all and despite the site’s hillside location, all properties have fully terraced gardens, increasing usable outdoor space. Changing the design from modular to timber frame enabled additional cost savings without compromising on the style and quality of the properties.

As with all projects procured under the SCF, over 70% of the project’s supply chain was sourced locally, which demonstrates our commitment to local and regional economies as well as reduced environmental impact.

The Results

The development at Lawrence Weston comprises of 57 affordable housing units. These are a mix of building types from one bed to four bed dwellings: a mix of maisonettes, townhouses and houses. All are designed with high sustainable credentials to minimise running costs and provide high quality yet affordable accommodation suiting the needs of modern family life.

Integrating practical sustainability fit for the future into the properties at Lawrence Weston was also important. Each property benefits from low energy lighting to reduce running costs and the double insulated walls offer high air tightness for high energy efficiency. Furthermore, properties have energy supplied by ground source heat pumps, the supply of which involved the careful drilling of 13 wells, 150m into bedrock with access to the wellheads provided for maintenance.

14

Apprentices

83.83%

SME Spend

£1,304,795

SROi

8/10

Client Satisfaction

Contractor Performance | Commitments

Legacy

21 Jobs created

28 Work experience placements

10 Careers in Construction Information, Advice and Guidance events

553 Training weeks delivered

45 Qualifying the workforce

6 Training qualifications

Sustainability

Each dwelling had been assessed against Part L 2021 to check for individual compliance. The annual energy consumed by the GSHPs across the Lawrence Weston sites has been calculated by combining the space heating and domestic hot water consumption for each dwelling across the scheme. This is then compared against the space heating and hot water demand, to establish how much energy is saved as a result of use of GSHPs. The use of the GSHPs saves a total of 186,195 kWh/yr of electrical energy. This equates to a carbon emissions reduction of 5.39 kgCO2/m2/yr, which is 46% of the development’s total regulated carbon emissions.

Safe

Zero RIDDORS 

Fair

100% payment within 30 days terms

Aftercare

Soft landings for handover 

Client Testimonials

“It is the first project they have encountered where the end product looks identical to the original CGI prepared of the scheme. The team feel a huge sense of pride in knowing that they delivered exactly what was expected for the families at Lawrence Weston.  This was reinforced by the 90% net promoter score given by our customer.

Most poignantly however, it was commented that where there was once rubbish and graffiti, there is now the sound of laughter and children playing: the true success of Lawrence Weston lies in the community that has been created.”

PreviousNext
Dorset Police Headquarter