Led by Stirling Prize winning architects Mikhail Riches, we have been appointed as civil and structural engineers to the design team that will help York Council delivery 600 new market sale, social rent and affordable homes on 8 City of York council owned sites over 5 years as part of the city’s Housing Delivery Programme.

The housing will be delivered in accordance with the Housing Delivery Programme Design Manual which requires all homes to be Passivhaus certified with the development as a whole being net zero carbon in operation and embodied carbon to be as low as possible.

The £55 million first phase will see units built across 3 sites, with a real emphasis placed on creating real communities and a functional landscape including SuDS and green infrastructure, where walking, cycling and interaction are prioritised.

We have been involved in the public consultation on the schemes with the local communities being invited to help shape what the developments will look like and the benefits it will bring to the neighbourhood.

Our role on the project is as Civil, Structural and Transport Engineers and as such we have a significant role to play in achieving the schemes environmental and social aspirations through the design of low carbon buildings and infrastructure that enable the behavioural change necessary to lead more sustainable lifestyles.

Part of City of York Council’s vision is for sustainable transport to be at the forefront of the developments. We have developed transport assessments and travel plans for all three sites. Which include measures such as low levels of car parking, and justifying this, with no pressure being added to existing surrounding residents aswell as supporting new residents to help them live their life car free. We are future proofing the developments by providing electrical vehicle charging and high levels of bicycle parking including cargo and children’s bikes.

The infrastructure has been designed to prioritise human activity over motor vehicles both within the site boundary and through connections into neighbouring communities.

The landscape has been designed to minimise hard surfaces and we have worked closely with York City Council to justify reduced carriageway geometry and the inclusion of green infrastructure such as street trees and raingardens within the Highway, this will be the first time that meaningful nature-based SuDS solutions have been incorporated into the adopted highway in York.

As part of our role on the project we have undertaken a detailed analysis of embodied carbon associated with numerous traditional and modern methods of construction for the housing which informed the decision to proceed with a panelised timber frame system in order to achieve the criteria around low embodied carbon, air tightness and aesthetic.

On the Ordnance Lane site we have justified the reuse and retrofit of existing structures to provide new housing not only significantly reducing embodied carbon but also retaining heritage assets and adding character to the development.