North West

City View: Lancaster’s landmark project

Situated on Greyhound Bridge Road, Lancaster, City View is a brand new apartment block comprising 30 units.

The three-storey building was constructed for social renting purposes and includes ten apartments on each level.

Seddon Construction was the main contractor on City View and Halsall Lloyd Partnership provided all architectural services on the site. The £2.7 million project was part-funded by the Homes & Communities Agency, with additional funding from Lancaster City Council.

Historically the site where City View was built housed a railway siding, however, more recently the land was home to a car park which was used by the local railway club. Work began on the project in spring 2011 and reached completion in spring 2012.

In addition to the new building, a brand new access road, called Siding Close, was also installed at the site during the construction process.

City View was built using traditional methods of construction, with block work walls, pre-cast concrete walls and a reconstituted stone render on the exterior facade. Grey UPVC windows were also installed on the building and an aluminium standing-seam roof was used to complete the development.

Internally the apartments are situated between a central corridor with a staircase located towards the main entrance of the building. The corridor features alcoves around the entrance, which were painted in different colours to enhance the design of the interior.

In describing the new development, Halsall Lloyd Partnership Architect and Associate, Steven Gallagher, said:

“A circular white rendered drum announces the main entrance and contrasts with the stone work. The protruding balcony structures peel away from the facade, creating dramatic shadows as the sun moves around the building.”

Steven added:

“City View features a mix of one or two-bedroom apartments, with two of the ground floor units specifically designed to cater for residents living with a disability. Each of the apartments includes robust fixtures and fittings, as well as external balconies and some, but not all of the apartments have a view of the city.”

City View is a landmark, contemporary building situated along a quayside, so the overall design of the building is in keeping with the historic site. The building has already achieved Codes for Sustainable Homes Level 3 and approximately 10% of the energy used in the building is generated from photovoltaic (PV) panels, which are located on the roof.

In addition, all of the apartments were designed to meet the requirements of Lifetime Homes and City View has also achieved Secure by Design accreditation.

Discussing the new build project, Steven said:

“The project was fairly straight forward, although we did encounter a few challenges.

“As City View is situated alongside a river the building is located within a flood risk area, so the development had to be elevated above the already designated flood risk levels. As this was a key issue, City View was actually built one meter above the existing risk levels and then this aspect of the project was integrated into the design.

“As the site was previously a railway siding, the site was also contaminated prior to work taking place, so this was something which had to be addressed. Space around the site was also fairly restricted, with one side of the site sloping steeply away. These issues were a construction and design challenge but Seddon Construction handled all of the challenges very well.”

The majority of the existing trees around City View were retained, whilst the approach to the building was heavily landscaped. Twenty-three car parking spaces were also installed around the development, with the parking bays located at both the front and back of the site. Three of the bays are reserved for disabled residents.

Steven said:

“City View was a good project to work on. We have completed work on quite a number of social housing projects but in terms of the way in which City View looks, this is a very special building. It is a prominent site and the client was very supportive about creating something a little different, to make this a high quality development.

“When the site was completed an opening event was held, where we got to speak to many of the residents and everyone remarked how happy they were with the building.

“A great deal of local trades was used during construction, the whole team worked very closely together on the project and we are all very proud of the work we have completed.”

Rudston Brickwork

Rudston Brickwork is a brickwork subcontractor specialising in a wide variety of projects across the UK, from hotels and care homes to student accommodation projects. Rudston Brickwork became a limited company in 2007 and is currently working on a regeneration scheme in Halton to create 160 new houses.

Previous projects include a new hospice in Bury and a number of Premier Inn projects for Balfour Beatty, including most recently a hotel in Solihull.

Working on City View, Rudston Brickwork completed all the brick and block work on the project. Using localised stone the company also constructed balcony pillars which were built independently of the building.

Rudston Brickwork Contracts Manager, Colin Bowness, said:

“We are always looking to extend our portfolio and projects such as City View help us to achieve this goal. Our aim is to always to leave a project with a happy client.

“At Rudston Brickwork we pride ourselves on the quality of our work and we always meet our deadlines.”

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