The £62 million Garthamlock project comprises 118 social properties, which will be made available for rent by Homes Scotland, and around 692 private homes which will be sold by the developer. Persimmon is managing the construction of all 810 properties, as well as demolishing around 2,000 of the old tenement properties, installing new access roads and infrastructure and co-ordinating the construction of an adjacent commercial centre.
Garthamlock was the subject of a design-and-build competition sponsored by Glasgow City Council, which invited entrants to submit designs for a mixed-use development which would provide high-quality housing at affordable prices and accelerate the regeneration of Garthamlock, a 1950s council development which had become one of Scotland’s most notorious sink estates. Persimmon emerged victorious from the competition, and the company’s masterplan has been used as a central point of reference throughout the construction process.
Work began in 2005 after a two-year delay while Scottish Water carried out essential improvements to the Garthamlock site. The enabling project included the remediation of a small degree of contamination around the site, and a substantial amount of groundworking to raise the level of a lowered section of the ground. Drainage, sewerage and key services were all renewed during the enabling phase.
To accommodate natural conditions and simplify the enabling process, Persimmon has built a large section of strip foundations on top of the rock which characterises the site. The private houses are being built to Persimmon’s in-house designs while the social houses have been tailored to housing association specifications. All 810 houses are built from timber kits and an external facade comprising facing brick and render. Roofs are being built using concrete tiles and all windows are standard UPVC.
This simple framework allows considerable variation between individual properties. The social housing scheme comprises fourteen different house types, while the private development includes 12 different examples of Persimmon’s ‘Great Scot’ range and seven different variants from the company’s ‘Glen’ series. The designs were preceded by extensive consultation with key stakeholders, and this is reflected in a flexible, sensitive layout.
The social properties are being constructed to a standard known as “housing for varying needs,” which comprises a range of standards designed to accommodate individuals with differing housing needs, including the elderly and disabled. Eighty five percent of the rental housing mix has been specifically matched to particular residents, who were allocated specific plots early in the process and given the chance to help create their individual build.
As well as being versatile, the Garthamlock development is designed to be as sustainable and futureproof as possible. A series of practical sustainable construction guidelines were introduced at the design and construction stages of the redevelopment, and under the terms of these guidelines houses in the scheme will incorporate state-of-the-art environmental designs such as efficient loft and cavity insulation and condense heating systems. Each house will include a high-performance boiler and, gas heating, and all will meet secure by design specification and existing space standards.
Following consultation with local residents with regard to the potential noise pollution and other community concerns surrounding the redevelopment, it was agreed that construction work would take place during peak hours only and this restriction has been impeccably observed. Materials left over from the demolition of the old houses have been reclaimed and recycled wherever possible, and rubble has been crushed on site for use as back and ground filling. Demolition and construction waste has been segregated on site, thereby diverting tonnages from disposal to landfill.
Ninety eight of the 118 new social properties are now complete, and work is underway on the remaining twenty. The vast private development is being built in four phases and Persimmon has already completed construction of around 150 homes. In addition to this quick, efficient progress, the development has caught the eye of Scotland’s leading property experts; Persimmon recently received the Community Involvement and Affordable Housing awards from Homes for Scotland in recognition of the excellence of the Garthamlock project.
Persimmon say it may delegate some of the houses to another contractor in the later phases of the project, and is actively seeking another firm to work on the shopping centre. Completion is expected in 2010 although the precise date is yet to be finalised.
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