Phase 2 of this estate regeneration is to convert the existing building on Hague Street into mixed use residential and 2-storeys of offices. The five distinct flanks of Phase 2 aim to provide a total of 199 residential dwellings, as a mix of townhouses, affordable and apartments for private sale. The proposed refurbishment is retentionist in nature, as the architect’s vision is to conserve and revive as many of the existing building elements as possible. As such the structural design work undertaken included the assessment of the existing frame for the proposed uses and development of a detailed specification to execute the 1600 individual concrete repairs to the weathered concrete surface. The scheme marries a newly landscaped central courtyard and associated drainage with the surviving 50-year-old network and a remediation strategy to protect future users from ground-bourne contaminants pertaining to the sites previous uses. Necessary deviations from the retentionist philosophy comes in the form of portions of slab removal to create welcoming double height entrance spaces. In these instances, we developed column and beam strengthening details which are subtle in nature and pay homage to the original construction.

In addition to the design of the permanent works, we have provided temporary works advice for phase 2 to the management contractor. On all phases we have provided the contractor with advice on floor loading restrictions to inform where construction materials can be safely stored.In the 10 years since outline planning approval was granted the context of the proposed development has evolved significantly and, underpinned by evidence and experience from the operation of Phase 1 the masterplan is in the process of being refreshed to better reflect the current aspirations.

The most significant change in terms of transport and movement will be the significant reduction in the proposed parking provision and omission of the multi-storey car park which was proposed in 2006. The refreshed strategy will see the reduced parking provision “pepper potted” across the landscape and the omission of the multi storey car park means that the vehicular access will no longer be focused on a single point from Duke Street but will be distributed more evenly across the development.

Construction was complete in 2021.