Greenoaks Housing Association wished to deliver holistically sustainable social housing which would be both sustainable in construction and highly affordable for tenants to run.

Appleyards worked with the design team to review the optimum construction methods to achieve Greenoaks’ requirements for meeting Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4. An airtight cassette-style design was developed, using prefabricated external timber frame elements and pre-constructed roof and wall panels. This negated the need for concrete through the use of metal screwed pile foundations.

Dartmouth Avenue, Woking
Remediation works were required to prepare the former council depot site for the construction of 14 terraced / semi-detached housing units. Shortly after works began, the scheme was put at risk when the specialised timber frame sub-contractor went into administration. Appleyards was quickly able to  get the project back on-track by employing the sub-contractor’s joiners to deliver the service required. Homes featured triple glazing and passive ventilation, and utilized white-coloured render in replace of paint.

Glaziers Lane, Normandy, Guildford
12 semi-detached dwellings which utilized a more traditional on-site timber frame construction. Heat recovery units assisted in the overall efficiency of the properties, and permeable block paving largely alleviated any need for surface water drainage systems.

Ravenscroft, Storrington
12 semi-detached houses to a similar specification to that of Normandy. The site involved a large amount of re-used aggregate fill and internal heat recovery. It also utilized solar
thermal hot water installations.

Eco-Benefits
All three projects achieved Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4 and Eco Homes Excellent. The homes focus on reducing demand before using recycling systems, and use materials which minimise environmental impact as far as possible. The homes reduce emissions by at least 50% at a cost similar to most regular social housing, and space is effectively utilized within through the use of Mezzanine floors.

Awards
Greenoak has recently been awarded the ‘Social Housing Provider of the Year - Innovative Approach to Green Homes’ award at the 2010 Sustainable Housing Awards, and the Green Homes project has been awarded ‘Low Energy Social Housing Project of the Year’, with the architect awarded ‘Sustainable Social Housing Design/Construction Consultancy of the Year’. Both the Dartmouth Avenue and Glaziers Lane projects have won the National Housing Association ‘Gold Award for Sustainability’.