SGP completes 57 affordable homes at Springvale 2, Bilston in Wolverhampton

Stephen George + Partners (SGP) is celebrating the completion of 57 affordable homes on a 1.77 acre site located off Millfields Road in Bilston, Wolverhampton. Working closely with client, housing and social care provider GreenSquareAccord (GSA), SGP developed designs for three blocks containing a mix of one and two-bedroom apartments, plus car parking, drainage and external works.

Explains Juma Chipeta, Associate at SGP: “GSA and the local planners were very keen for us to design a high quality, sustainable development to meet local needs. We used a modular timber frame construction, supplied by LoCaL Homes, designed to maximize the performance of the buildings’ components and materials, and manufactured off-site at the LoCaL Homes factory in Walsall.”

Using the ‘Fabric First’ philosophy, the modular approach will achieve reduced embodied carbon, and improve thermal performance and air tightness. The design achieves a minimum U value of 0.18, complying with new Part L regulations and helping tenants save money on their heating bills.

A simple material palette settles the new build gently into its surroundings, whilst a technologically advanced panelised cladding system creates the impression of a light rustic brickwork exterior, complete with contrast banding and detailing to break up the form. SGP’s layout avoids issues with overlooking and old mineshafts and makes best use of visual links outward to the surrounding area, especially across the cricket pitch and bowling greens, as well as adding physical links to the neighbourhood and town amenities.

The development sits within a simple but inviting landscaping that includes lawns, new hedges and native trees with specimen planting and meadow seeding to increase biodiversity and enhance the pedestrian pathways through and across the site.

Concludes Juma: “With build challenges on this relatively small urban plot and adjustments to the granted planning for new elements like a substation and boundary treatments, SGP and the project team worked closely together to deliver a quality, sustainable community of 100% affordable rental homes that filled out a section of the fabric of the town.”

SGP’s design took full advantage of the site’s proximity to schools, healthcare, retail and leisure to harness the benefits of its excellent public transport and cycle links; delivering on Wolverhampton Council’s aims to improve sustainability and reduce noise and air pollution, including installing EV charging points to support the move to electric cars and rooftop PVs to supplement the domestic energy needs.