Delivering 135 new homes across 12 sites in 18 months in Nottingham

As part of the 'Building a Better Nottingham' scheme, Woodhead delivered 135 new homes across 12 sites in 18 months working in partnership with Nottingham City Homes and Nottingham City Council.

Project Overview:

Working closely and collaboratively with Nottingham City Homes and Nottingham City Council as part of the ‘Building a Better Nottingham’ programme, we’re delivering 135 new homes, across 12 sites, in 18 months whilst giving previously disused or derelict areas of the city (such as the former Morley School site) a new lease of life.

Key Achievements & Innovations:

  • Innovative strategic batching and client collaboration condense a 257 week build programme down to 68 weeks whilst delivering added efficiency savings.
  • Disused and problematic sites with a history of anti-social behaviour were brought back into use, re-invigorating local communities.
  • Delivered the first social housing Considerate Constructors Ultra Site as part of a national pilot. The Ultra Site scheme has since been extended due to its success, becoming the platinum standard which all registered sites aspire to.
  • With upskilling as a key project driver, local labour was utilised, work experience was delivered and women in construction were supported.
  • Developing a Former School Site:

    The former Morley School location was a complex brownfield site with a considerably steep slope, substantial existing services requiring diversion and lowering and a tree protection order which required post tender design development and re-planning. This was re-submitted within the contractor’s mobilisation period to mitigate the impact on delivering the programme.

    As the site was located on a steep slope (with 10m of difference between the front and back), each row of properties required terracing to accommodate the gradient. The technical expertise of the architects and the solutions we proposed achieved front and rear level access to comply with the LifeTime Homes standards on a very challenging site.

    Achieving CCS Ultra Site Status:

    This project was selected as an industry “Ultra Site” pilot. An Ultra Site is a status given to a construction site which is expected to go well above and beyond the basic expectations of the Considerate Constructors Scheme. This means the project team has done even more to engage the local community, offer employment, training and work experience opportunities to local people, as well as providing exceptional facilities and support to the workforce on site.

    Added Social Value Initiatives:

    We worked closely with CT Skills in Nottingham, who are a training provider that specialises in supporting individuals who are unemployed. We supported individuals who were on a Traineeship pre-apprenticeship programme with work experience placements, to equip them with the employability skills required to advance to an Apprenticeship.

    Local Impact: