Botanical Place, Surrey

Delivery of a retirement-housing led, mixed-use development in partnership with Retirement Villages Group (RVG) comprised 196 highly specified one- and two-bedroom apartments for private sale and rent, all featuring access to outdoor space with roof gardens spread across the development.

The high-quality development featured top-class amenity space, shared with the wider community, including a wellness centre, café, and restaurant, along with new public realm encompassing an attractive pedestrianised square. The new public square is at the heart of the community, enclosed by a number of retail units, a new community space, and public car parking facilities. It was carefully designed to encourage flexible community use throughout the year.

RVG’s vision for the development was to create a mixed-use scheme that comprehensively regenerated the central site, providing high-quality public spaces that were accessible, inclusive, and inviting. Using their extensive experience, our skilled internal Pre-Construction Team, including supply chain partners, worked closely with RVG to identify a number of cost-saving options and areas where we were able to deliver significant added value. As a result of developing these early working relationships, we were confident that together with RVG we would successfully create a thriving community hub and a great lifestyle for their residents in an inclusive and lively environment, which would benefit the whole community for many years to come.

Botanical Place set a new standard for sustainable later living, achieving Whole Life Zero Carbon in accordance with the UKGBC framework. In summary, the scheme aimed to achieve: a Fitwel 3-star rating; embodied carbon offsets were used to offset existing building emissions; BREEAM Excellent for retail areas; nearly 67,000 kWh were generated by PV panels; no fossil fuels were used, with a commitment to green energy; triple glazing and enhanced façade performance were incorporated; compliance with TM59 for overheating was achieved; circa 700 tonnes of carbon were saved through the use of alternative materials; operational energy (and residential energy bills) were around 50% better than a new build in 2022; an individual electric heating system combined with an air source heat pump (ASHP)-led hot water system was incorporated into the scheme, as well as a PV array; all operational energy used throughout the development was monitored to inform building users of energy consumption; and water-efficient sanitaryware components were installed.

This project was shortlisted for a Housing Design Award 2022.