Completion at St Clements

We have achieved Practical Completion at our St Clements House project for MHS Homes in Rochester.

St. Clements House in Rochester is considered a benchmark scheme for later living within Medway, providing 44 highly accessible, 100% affordable homes for over-60s. The scheme is designed to address loneliness and promote social interaction between residents, and to improve independence and quality of life for residents.  The homes are designed to for accessibility and are simple to operate, and reduce resident vulnerability to falls.  Each comes with a ‘winter garden’ balcony, which works like a conservatory allowing enjoyment of outdoor space and gardening opportunities while enclosed with single glazing so they can be used comfortably year-round.

 

Designing Quality Homes

The development sits between the busy A2 main road and a high-speed railway line. Acoustic considerations were crucial to delivering a building which both complied with noise guidelines and satisfied its residents. We undertook a Noise and Vibration survey and identified that noise levels at the location would require careful design in order to comply with BS 8233/WHO Design Aims Figures. We were also determined to deliver comfortable homes for the intended older residents. We found that a reinforced concrete frame achieved impressive levels of sound insulation, which used alongside insulation, MVHR units, and high-performance double-glazed window systems would achieve noise and vibration reduction.

To optimise the design around supported living for older residents, access and mobility were a key consideration with step-free access throughout. Corridor widths and turning circles needed to be suitable for wheelchairs or walking aids. Lifts needed to be sized to accommodate stretchers and mobility scooters. On-site staff facilities were included, along with a 24/7 emergency cord.

 

Delivering Quality Homes

We assigned Site Manager Garry Dean as Quality Champion on this project. As Quality Champion, Garry took ownership of ensuring full understanding of the employer’s quality expectations and translating this into daily workmanship.

Prior to commencing the works on site, we agreed with MHS Homes on a list of key hold points that would require employer sign off before moving on to the next activity. We integrated employer hold points into our programme, to ensure that the quality standard was delivered to their expectations.

We set up a benchmark flat early in the programme to provide a reference point for both our site team and supply chain, demonstrating the required quality of finishes, detailing, and compliance with Employer’s Requirements. Signed off by the Employer’s team, it acted as a training and reference tool for subcontractors, demonstrating tolerances and sequencing in practice. Any issues identified were corrected in the benchmark flat before being repeated across the rest of the scheme, avoiding costly rework and supporting a consistent, right-first-time approach to quality across all dwellings.

We selected subcontractors from our trusted supply chain who had demonstrated their ability to deliver high quality results and conform to programme. We monitored their performance throughout the project, holding pre-start briefings to ensure their complete understanding of the works, KPIs and their objectives.

 

Site Constraints and how they were overcome

The scheme had originally been started by a previous contractor who went out of business; piles had been installed but the design had not been completed.  We needed to ensure that the design integrated with the exiting piles, despite some of the piles being in suboptimal locations.  With the expertise of our Structural Engineer Axiom Structures, we were able to find a solution that made best use of the existing pile layout without needing to lose programme time and cost to installing a small number of additional piles.

One early challenge was the employer’s need to start on stage at the earliest opportunity, which was complicated by the site’s location between the busy A2 motorway and a high-speed railway line running alongside the site.  We have delivered many projects in similar locations and we appointed DesignId, with whom we have successfully collaborated on many previous schemes, to ensure timely issue of the BAPA.

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