Four landmark 1960s tower blocks which are home to hundreds of Salford residents have been saved from demolition thanks to a £20 million investment from City West Housing Trust.
The West Salford-based social landlord has transformed the Ladywell Green development in Eccles – which is made up of 350 homes in the Crauton, Cremer, Ewood and Kemball House multi-story blocks – to give the scheme a new lease of life.
The work, which began in December last year, has seen contractor Forrest fit the concrete blocks with the latest green technologies to bring the buildings up to modern environmental standards and help slash fuel bills for residents.
Each block has also been given a fresh new look with a colour scheme that reflects that of local listed buildings and LS Lowry’s famous signature palette.
Colette McKune, Deputy Chief Executive for City West Housing Trust said: “The four tower blocks at Ladywell Green were built in 1965 and were desperately outdated. It would have been easy for us to simply knock them down and start again, but we know that our residents see these blocks as more than just buildings – they are their homes and part of the fabric of the local community.
“We made a commitment to do everything we could to keep the blocks intact. The last year has seen us carry out a major refurbishment programme to ensure that they are now fit for modern living. It has been a challenging project, but one we are very proud of.”
The work on the blocks is part of City West’s £235 million Investment Programme to improve its 14,500 homes across West Salford. That programme included £54.3 million of funding to refurbish the 12 high-rise blocks across the area. Mary Hayes, 85, has lived in her property in Kemball for nine years. Mary said: “I’m so pleased with the work and the difference it has made to the blocks. They look like new buildings.
“You can feel how warm it is now the work has been done and I haven’t even had to put the heating on yet. I’m looking forward to getting my new kitchen and I can’t wait for the new bathroom to be ready.”
Work has included structural repairs to each of the blocks, new cladding to provide external insulation, energy efficient doors and windows, balcony enclosures which residents can enjoy all year round and refurbishments to communal areas. A new EcoPod heating system, which uses ultra-efficient cascade boilers and solar power to significantly lower fuel bills, has also been installed on the roof of each building to replace expensive electric storage heaters.
The EcoPod features an innovative Building Management System which will allow City West to monitor energy use in the block and support vulnerable residents who are struggling to pay fuel bills.
The new technologies will help City West cut carbon emissions at the blocks by around 40 per cent.
Andy Whitter, director of frameworks at Forrest, said: “We are continually investing in green technology to keep ourselves at the forefront of sustainable building practice, benefiting both the environment and local communities. “Already the developments at Ladywell Green have made a huge financial difference to the lives of the residents, making it an extremely rewarding project to have been involved in.”
