Midlands & East Anglia

Cardea takes shape

Cardea, Stanground is a brand new housing development in Peterborough, comprising a mix of one, two, three and four-bedroom homes.

More than 1200 homes are being built on the development, providing a selection of social and private houses, along with a Morrison’s supermarket, a school, a sporting complex, a doctor’s surgery, a day nursery and a collection of retail units.

Persimmon Homes East Midlands is the main contractor on Cardea, with the architectural work being completed in-house.

Discussing the project, Persimmon Homes East Midlands Projects Manager, Stewart Chambers, said:

“The land for Cardea was purchased just over three years ago. The project is being completed in ten phases and will include a great mix of units, effectively creating its own little village.

“I started on the site in February 2010 and since this time I have built more than 500 houses and had an input on all infrastructure. This is a fantastic achievement so far.”

In the early stages of the project a major road bypass was constructed in order to facilitate the future needs of the new development. The bypass links up with the land that Cardea is being constructed on and provides important access to the development.

In addition to the bypass, a new bus service and cycleways will be created to run through the centre of Cardea.

Stewart said:

“With the bypass in place, as well as the new facilities being built at Cardea, this development is going to be a great community. The demand is certainly there and although we have a lot of work ahead of us it is shaping up great.”

Work is making excellent progress on Cardea, and at present Phases 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d and 1e have reached completion, with Phase 3 coming to a conclusion shortly.

The houses on the development are being built from a timber frame construction, with UPVC windows and tiled roofs. An external skin of brickwork completes each building shell, along with internal stud work.

All properties include front and rear gardens, with some houses including garages and Housing Association properties including parking courtyards. The development is linked by landscaped open space areas.

Commenting on the new development, Stewart said:

“We have approximately 180 crew members on site on a daily basis, working very hard to achieve the best quality build possible. Due to the sheer size of the site Cardea is a monster of a build, there is no other way to describe it, but it is a very satisfying development.

“I take a lot of pride in what I get involved with. I have been in the industry for around 30 years now, with 20 years experience in management and I like to think that I am very good at my job, but at times this project has certainly tested me.”

This is certainly not the first time that project manager Stewart has been involved with a large-scale scheme such as this one in Peterborough.

Stewart said:

“I worked on a site near to where I live, which included 220 houses which we built in just 14 months. Everyone was shocked at how quick we managed to construct the site. They are even more shocked about our progress on this site.”

Cardea is part of the Government’s Help to Buy scheme, which means home buyers can own 100% of their new home for just 80% of the price.

For more information on Cardea or Persimmon Homes, please visit: www.persimmonhomes.com.

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