The Elms

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Client
Cestria Community Housing
Location
Chester-le-Street
Project Value
£6.5m
Sector
Extra Care
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Project Summary

Flagship assisted living development comprising of 52 apartments and 6 bungalows available for those over the age of 55 on the site of a former sheltered housing scheme.

Delivered at BIM Level 2 – the extra care building was designed to BREEAM ‘Very Good’ and the bungalows to CSH Level 4.

Image credit: Sally Ann Norman Photography

Our Approach

The building was constructed with a traditional build solution utilising a brickwork/blockwork cavity wall and precast concrete floors.

Steel frames were introduced to maximise space of large open communal areas.
Internal retaining walls were incorporated throughout to accommodate split site levels and part basements. Extensive basement retaining walls were introduced to accommodate the split levels and partial basement communal features.
A complex drainage attenuation system was required which had to avoid existing NWL storage and connection into the existing sewers’
Early negotiations with Network Rail were critical on this project due to the close proximity of the mainline to the boundary.

Project Testimonial

Portland were appointed on the basis of their demonstrable experience and understanding of the requirements of schemes of this nature.
Given the challenging site to work on the building situated on a topographically challenging site and close to the east coast mainline, Portland understood the need to ensure the scheme was designed to maximise the use of the site.
It was stated by the Head of Coporate Strategy at the HCA that “the Elms has set a benchmark for high quality Extra Care in the North East. The HCA are delighted that our Care and Support Specialised Housing Fund has helped Cestria to deliver this excellent project. We have been particularly impressed by the developers understanding HAPPI principles which are clearly evident in the scheme”.
We found working with Portland very easy as an engineer and given the feedback we have had in relation to the scheme, Cestria would definitely recommend them for similar projects.

Stephen Riding : Development and Regeneration Manager
Cestria Community Housing