Ainsley Gommon Architects

Client

Riverside Housing Association

Location

Bromborough Pool Village, Wirral

Value

£3.7m

Date Completed

Autumn 2013

Development Overview

Ainsley Gommon has worked with Riverside for many years on several varied schemes within the Bromborough Pool Village Conservation Area on Wirral.

This scheme provided 40 no. new 3 bed houses, 26 shared ownership, 14 for rent, across 4 plots of land which had previously been cleared prior to the village being declared a conservation area in 1984. Having been designed to integrate seamlessly into the existing residential village this modern interpretation of the existing Victorian houses sits comfortably along side several listed buildings, including a former school building, village hall and community church. The houses are designed to provide high level of current design standards including, Code for Sustainable Homes Level 3, Lifetime Homes, Building for Life, Housing Quality Indicators and Secure by Design.

Located within a Conservation Area the dwellings have been designed from a ‘fabric first’ approach using traditional construction methods to meet the Code, therefore avoiding any ‘bolt on’ technologies in the visually sensitive area. We consulted the Conservation Officer and Planner consistently from the early stages through to completion to ensure the scheme was fully supported. The landscape design is integrated into the scheme providing new trees and planting beds to create a visually attractive neighbourhood while encouraging and sustaining wildlife and native planting species.

Nominated for several awards at the 2013 Your Move Property Awards, the project came home with the Best Affordable Housing Award, as well being nominated by the Local Authority for a National LABC award.