Topping out at £70m affordable housing project

A topping out ceremony has been held at our Cross Keys Homes’ (CKH) flagship Indigo development, located right in the heart of Peterborough City Centre.

We held a celebratory event with Cross Keys Homes, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority and others who have been involved in the development project this week.

The £70 million development scheme, which has received £12.5 million grant funding from Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, will provide 315 much-needed high-quality affordable rented homes offering a range of one, two and three-bedroom apartments and duplexes across two connected wings. It will also include two commercial retail units once complete.

To celebrate this significant milestone in the build, CKH’s Group Chair, Shelagh Grant was joined on the roof by CKH CEO, Claire Higgins together with Willmott Dixon’s Director, Dan Doyle, and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, Deputy Mayor, Cllr Anna Smith. Also present were representatives from Drees & Sommer, Corstorphine & Wright Architects, HLM, William H Brown, Eddisons, ELG and Focus who were able to see firsthand the work that has taken place to reach this milestone achievement.

Chief Executive of CKH, Claire Higgins, said: “It has been a pleasure to meet with our professional consultants and contractors this week to see the fantastic progress that has been made to date by our development partners Willmott Dixon. Willmott Dixon are true partners in every sense of the word and have really worked with us to make this fantastic scheme become a reality. It’s a challenging site being built in challenging times and they have been absolutely superb from day one always working positively with us to iron out any problems whether that is the unpredictable weather or challenging ground conditions.

“We are committed to making a positive difference by providing homes that people can afford and are looking forward to seeing how our Indigo development will help to improve access to sustainable, modern city centre living.”

CKH Technical Director, Gary Clarke, added: “The topping out ceremony is a significant milestone in any construction project marking the structural completion of a build. Having overseen this development since the beginning it is great to see Indigo reach this point in the build and I now look forward to seeing the interior of the building take shape.”

Willmott Dixon’s Director, Dan Doyle, commented: “It was fantastic to celebrate the topping out point of this flagship regeneration project with key stakeholders and project partners.

"Many towns and cities are currently going through transformations. We’re pleased to be playing a part in Peterborough city centre’s transformation and working with Cross Keys Homes to help provide high-quality, affordable housing.”

Dr Nik Johnson, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, added: “The Combined Authority is playing a central role in transforming Peterborough and our investment in regenerating Northminster is one part of that.

“Getting your own front-door key is life-changing, and our devolution pledge to bring quality housing within reach is creating hundreds of city-centre homes that will change the world for people.”

The first properties will be ready for people to move into later this year.