Fiveways Regeneration

Making successful housing regeneration a reality in Wirral.

Project: Fiveways Regeneration
Location: Rock Ferry, Wirral
Division: Affordable Housing – Lovell
Sector: Residential
Value: £15.5m (Phase 1 only)
Project team: Includes Wirral Borough Council, Riverside Housing Association and NewHeartlands Housing Market Renewal Initiative

Project Summary

The scheme, also known as Sevenoaks, comprises of 1, 2, and 3 storey houses, bungalows and apartments built over three phases. The completed properties will be available for sale, rent and shared ownership via Riverside Housing Association.

The new housing, built on a brownfield site, addresses a number of important local issues including void derelict housing, lack of housing choice, poor environment and socio-economic stress.

Delivering today for tomorrow

People

Giving local students an insight into housing design and construction.

Planet

Providing a flagship sustainable development for the council.

Profit

Embedding the use of local labour and suppliers into project KPIs.

Aspects of Sustainability

People

Residents were consulted from 2003, five years before construction started, and Lovell continued to hold monthly resident meetings during construction. Lovell’s involvement strategy incorporates a number of measures including coach trips to existing developments, open days and exhibitions, and an estate-wide ‘best garden’ competition.

Lovell also used the development to provide local university students with a realistic brief for a course module focusing on housebuilding design and technology. Students from Liverpool John Moores University’s School of the Built Environment were challenged to produce designs for a 60-home affordable housing development. To help them, Lovell invited the students to visit the Fiveways estate, where the students had a guided tour of the site where they could watch construction under way and look at completed homes. The students ultimately had to present their designs to a panel of experts, made up of their tutors and Lovell staff.

Planet

Lovell have worked closely with Wirral Borough Council and architect and consultant partners to ensure that the Fiveways development achieved the necessary sustainable features and provided a flagship development for the council.

The timber frame properties achieve Code for Sustainable Homes Level 3, Secured by Design and are SDS Compliant. The sustainable features include solar panels, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery and programmable heating systems. The properties have been fitted with thermally efficient windows, doors and roof insulation to reduce heating costs, as well as flow-limited taps and showers, dual flush toilets and small baths to save water. Cycle storage, compost bins and water butts are all also provided.

Profit

Lovell is collating and reporting a number of bespoke key performance indicators (KPIs) for Wirral Borough Council, relating to local employment, which includes the amount of local labour, subcontractors, suppliers and apprentices employed. Lovell currently has two apprentices working on site who live in the same postcode area.

Best Practice

To enhance the design, Lovell liaised with the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) to ensure that the design fully achieved community and council objectives.

Quotes

"A key part of Lovell’s contribution to housing market renewal in Wirral has been to accept from the outset the need to work closely with local residents to make successful regeneration a reality."

Chris Bowen
HMRI Manager at Chester & District Housing Trust

"The visits to [the] housing projects were very successful and a great way for students to learn about housing design and construction."

Lynne Bell
senior lecturer in the built environment, Liverpool John Moores University