£1.3m eco-development for over-60s is “Highly Commended” in building excellence awards

£1.3m eco-development for over-60s is “Highly Commended” in building excellence awards

A £1.3m eco-development for the over-60s has been highly commended in a regional building excellence awards initiative.

Pickering and Ferens Homes was delighted to receive the news that its Rokeby Mews development was recognised in the South Yorkshire and Humber Building Excellence Awards, which is run by Local Authority Building Control Yorkshire (LABC).

Rokeby Mews came second in the Domestic Sustainable Buildings category and therefore received a Highly Commended certificate. The development was officially opened by Hull West and Hessle MP, Alan Johnson in May last year.

Comprising 10 eco-bungalows, the west Hull-based development was made possible through a grant of £539,000 from the Homes and Communities Agency together with land provided free of charge by Hull City Council and the additional cost being financed by Pickering and Ferens Homes. The two bedroomed dormer bungalows were designed by Hull-based architects Gammond Evans Crichton Limited.

The homes are Lifetime Homes which means they are built to accommodate daily living needs as people get older such as wide doors and hallways, space for wheelchairs, easy to open windows and switches and sockets at a height that are usable for all.

The eco-homes were built to the Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4, a guideline for driving up standards in construction and energy efficiency with typical features such as solar panels including display devices inside the properties that allow residents to assess their own energy use patterns. The properties benefit from extremely high levels of floor, wall and roof insulation, high efficiency boilers, low energy lighting and high performance triple glazing which could considerably reduce heating bills. They also include composting facilities and rain water capture for garden watering.

Claire Warren, chief executive of Pickering and Ferens Homes, said: “Rokeby Mews is a very well thought out development, which was designed with our residents’ needs in mind. I am delighted that it has been recognised as part of such a high profile awards initiative, ensuring the work we are doing is given a strong regional profile.”
Councillor John Black, Portfolio Holder for Council Infrastructure, said: “I am very happy that the eco – development in West Hull has been recognised in these awards, and it highlights the success of the project.

“The initiative has been made possible by good partnership work between the Council, Homes and Communities Agency and Pickering and Ferens Homes, and I am keen to continue to work on initiates that produce more sustainable housing for the city.”

Paul Gammond, Director of Gammond Evans Crichton Limited, said: “We are delighted to prove that by working closely at design stage with our client, we were able to provide both extremely spacious living accommodation, 30% above the norm, together with the highest current environmental standards, at little additional cost to any standard housing development. Such benefits will enormously enhance the lifestyles of residents in the decades ahead.”