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Case Studies

Catalyst Housing Group - Urban regeneration, Wornington Green

Built between 1964 and 1985, the Wornington Green estate in Kensington consists of 538 homes made up mainly of flats in six-storey connected blocks.

A review, carried out between 2001 and 2005, found that regeneration was the best way to address problems on the estate, including high levels of overcrowding and under-occupancy.

The regeneration plans include building 538 quality affordable homes of mixed sizes and 20 new retail units for Portobello Road – generating up to 200 new jobs. A connecting road will be constructed to integrate the estate better into the surrounding community and a new community centre will be built.

The scheme was granted planning approval for the first of five phases in 2010. The integration of lean design and a district heating system served from onsite gas boilers and its own dedicated CHP (combined heat and power) systems helped to meet the local authority’s planning requirements. Phase 1 includes the building of 324 new homes, a mix of 174 for affordable rent and 150 homes for private sale. When the project is complete, it will double the population density of this deprived inner city area and improve the housing stock.

Rolton Group has worked closely with specialist planning advisors and the design team to minimise the impacts of the scheme on its surroundings. In conjunction with Kensington Housing Trust and Catalyst Housing, we have provided the energy, mechanical and electrical building services.

The energy strategy was developed over a number of years, and was designed to be flexible in its implementation. It currently meets the Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4 requirements. However, with the use of further onsite and offsite renewables technologies, it can be enhanced to meet Level 5.


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