Mollison Drive, Wallington

The Oakwood Group assembled this site comprising 6 semi-detached houses with substantial back gardens via a series of Option Agreements with each of the registered proprietors, on a subject to planning permission basis.

The site presented a significant challenge in planning terms following refusal of the initial planning application on grounds of overdevelopment, excessive building height, non-conformity with building line, insufficient parking and perceived incongruence with the character of the area. Detailed negotiations with the planning, highway and design officers informed a revised planning application, however, despite good progress being made, the Council once again refused the scheme.

The Oakwood Group lodged a Public Local Inquiry against the decision of the Council and following a complex and lengthy process, the Planning Inspectorate granted permission for 54 affordable apartments.

We worked in partnership with one of LB Sutton’s Housing Association Partners, Hyde Housing, to deliver the buildings, which now provide homes for individuals from the Council’s housing waiting list.

The construction was procured via a design and build contract, managed under a JCT Standard Form of Building Contract.

The buildings were designed using Modern Methods of Construction and were manufactured ‘off-site’ using timber frame technology. The homes met the Building Research Establishment’s Code for Sustainable Homes Level 3 Rating and twenty per-cent of the predicted annual energy consumption of the dwellings is generated from on-site renewable energy sources, principally photovoltaic panels.

We carried out extensive research in to recycling rain water, which is stored in underground tanks and used to flush wc’s and to irrigate external soft landscaped areas.

Water saving devices were incorporated into the design, such as low flush cisterns in wc’s, spray taps and low volume baths to reduce water wastage in the buildings.

The project was nominated by the NHBC for a ‘Top 100 Award’ and was completed on time and on budget in April 2011.