A brand new residential and community space in London’s Notting Hill area has been completed by Morgan Sindall Construction.
The £17.5m Acklam Road project, which consists of 32 residential flats alongside community space, was procured via the Southern Construction Framework and delivered on behalf of the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea (RBKC).
Of the 32 homes that have been built, the majority (20) are social rent homes. The seven-storey building incorporates ground floor community units open to the public, with residential space starting on the first floor in a mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments. Four of these homes will be fully wheelchair accessible and all the apartments feature a fully enclosed balcony or winter garden.
The homes were officially opened in a ceremony attended by Deputy Leader Cllr Kim Taylor-Smith, representatives from Morgan Sindall, members of Swinbrook Residents’ Association and Golborne Youth Centre, local councillors, Lead Member for Housing, Cllr Sof McVeigh. The scheme was recently named the best affordable housing development for under £20million at the Inside Housing Development Awards.
Situated near Portobello Road market, Acklam Road has been constructed with a brick facade to complement the building’s surroundings. Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP) have been installed to provide the new homes with a sustainable energy source and making the site completely gas free.
Morgan Sindall’s London business leveraged its Intelligent Solutions approach to incorporate advanced fire safety measures into Acklam Road. This included installing an enhanced, commercial grade sprinkler system in each apartment and throughout non-residential areas. The building also includes two staircases and two emergency evacuation lifts as well as a dry riser. A high-end smoke detection and alarm system as well as an evacuation alert system has also been added to every apartment.
The site’s proximity to the busy A40 presented a logistical challenge during construction. The project team utilised its Intelligent Solutions approach to think innovatively and utilised only a small pocket of land in an efficient manner to ensure that the work could continue at pace. Additionally, the Acklam Road development is situated opposite the Al-manaar cultural heritage centre, to ensure minimal disruption the team organised delivery schedules to avoid Friday prayer times while the road is at its busiest.
As part of the tier one contractor’s commitment to generating as much social value as possible, the site team engaged in a wide variety of educational, volunteering and community projects. Among other things, this included creating a new kitchen for Golborne Youth Centre, engaging with 483 students, putting on 19 local education events and creating seven jobs for Kensington and Chelsea residents. The development also hosted eight apprentices, five work experience placements, five people on a week-long employability programme, one T-Level student, and three year-out placements.
The amount of social value activity Morgan Sindall conducted onsite meant the project far exceeded the Employment and Skills plan requirements. This level of social value generation is especially impactful in the local community as there is a limited pool of construction labour and skills in the area.
The Morgan Sindall team also worked in collaboration with numerous key partners including The Children’s Book Project, Metropolitan Police, Morley College, Construction Youth Trust, and several schools and engaged in educational events such as open days, volunteering within the local community, and donating to community-led projects.
Richard Dobson, Morgan Sindall Construction’s Area Director for London, said: “The award-winning Acklam Road development has been an exciting project for us to work on, as not only has it created many, much needed, social rent homes but it will also provide the local community with a variety of valuable new spaces. Our community-centric approach means that this new facility has been tailored to the local area and incorporates many advanced features while being built in a way that minimised disruption in what is a very busy area.
“A key driver for us is always to generate as much social value as possible, and Acklam Road has been a real showcase in how this can be done on any project, regardless of size. The team have collaborated with an impressive range of local organisations and charities, from the Al-manaar Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre, to the social enterprise business Development 4 All, as well as schools, universities the Met Police and many others. This has resulted in a significant amount of training and upskilling opportunities for local people as well as numerous community initiatives.”
