CONTRACT WINS ACROSS THE MULTI-ROOM SECTOR
SECOND STUDENT ACCOMODATION PROJECT UNDERWAY FOR CROWN STUDENT LIVING
Winvic started enabling works at Lancaster Street in Birmingham city centre in November 2022 and in February we started to construct the project with its 33-storey tower concrete frame, and nine and 12 storey ‘shoulder’ blocks to each side. It’s the tallest building that we’ve ever constructed and while it’s not the tallest in the city, it will be the first thing you see as you enter from the north on the A38(M).
When complete in December 2025, you’ll find we’ve created 814 bed spaces – made up of 572 in studios, 114 inside cluster flats and 128 within Duplex rooms – over 13,000 sq ft of shared spaces including lounges, study and kitchen spaces as well as a gym, games lounge and cinema. There will also be a 700 sq ft external terrace at the first-floor level three blue roofs at different levels and a green roof on the 33rd floor.
storey tower concrete frame
By the end of January 2024, we’ll have constructed up to the tenth level and this is when we’ll begin to install the unitised façade, an exciting first for Winvic. The façade is made up of 2,600 floor-to-floor height external wall panels, which are factory manufactured and will be delivered to site fully complete with brickwork and windows. Installation is much faster as the panels slide together and with a site like Lancaster Street where the footprint almost meets the boundary lines, it negates the need for external scaffolding. It’s going to be a great project to watch progress on Winvic Live.
ADJOINING PBSA AND BTR PROJECTS PROGRESS IN BRISTOL
Madson Cairn appointed Winvic in August 2022 to construct a Build-to-rent (BTR) scheme and again in March 2023 to deliver an adjoining Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) project comprising 367 studios and shared rooms. The site is located within the central Redcliff district of Bristol and forms part of the second and final phase of Redcliff Quarter, a wider residential-led, mixed use masterplan development.
The PBSA project will complete the wider urban block meaning programming and access is complex, plus we’re installing and diverting several underground services and connecting both projects to the Bristol Heating Network. When complete at the start of 2025, student residents will be able to enjoy a 2,700 sq ft, landscaped first floor communal roof garden terrace to the rear, 4,600 sq ft of flexible communal spaces and storage for 184 bicycles. The roof at level 12 has been designed as a blue roof to provide the building with the function of water attenuation. We are constructing the reinforced concrete framed building using the jump form methodology and as each level of the main frame is poured, partitioning, steel frame system (SFS) and window installations follow on the lower floors.
We’re not only constructing 374 private rental homes for the first Redcliff Quarter project, but also 94 affordable homes and 8,500 sq ft of commercial space across six units. Inside there will be 5,900 sq ft of residents’ shared areas and outside there will be 31 car parking spaces and 21,200 sq ft of amenity space, which we’ll also be landscaping. We are using the same methodology on this project and as the SFS installation commences, so does the internal works including the bathroom pod installation and external brick work. Mechanical and electrical works also get underway, such as the first fix sprinkler and heating network connection programmes. This scheme will be handed over Q3 2025.
Mark Jones, Winvic’s Director of Multi-room
"The repeat business at Redcliff Quarter is a testament to strong collaboration and the partnership that we have built with this Madison Cairn. Both projects come with their own challenges and deadlines, with constraints on logistics – due to the interface of the adjoining buildings – and the limited space in this city centre location. Nevertheless, the Winvic teams appointed to each project have a wealth of experience and we are looking forward to safe delivery through to 2025."
total beds delivered to date
beds currently under construction
IT’S GOING SWIMMINGLY AT KENT STREET BATHS
The build-to-rent project is on a former swimming baths site in the centre of Birmingham and comprises 154 one-bedroom, 228 two-bedroom and 24 three-bedroom apartments.
Underneath the tallest block, there is a basement car park for 95 vehicles and on the ground floor is a commercial space. The site is compact and is contained by roads on all sides, but our experienced team has successfully negotiated these typical multi-room challenges and the building now stands at seven, eight, 10 and 18 storeys. Block D consisting of 83 apartments will be completed before Christmas 2023 and client inspections will start on Block C early in 2024. Landscape works have commenced and will continue into the New Year, as will the façade works to Blocks A and B. The scheme also features green roofs, 2,264 sq ft shared resident amenity areas and a landscaped central courtyard with community hub. A series of high quality connected external spaces have been developed so that residents can enjoy large open community gatherings but also the more intimate areas for relaxation and contemplation. The planting scheme in the gardens is diverse and has been designed to create a vertical structure to the space and be interesting in all seasons. With a total of five multi-room projects in Birmingham, we’re doing some valuable work to bring employment and skills opportunities to local people, and you can read more about this on page 17.
DELIVERING PHASE ONE OF A BRAND-NEW NEIGHBOURHOOD
Just down the road in leafy Edgbaston, Winvic is constructing another 398 homes for client Moda Living and landowner Calthorpe Estates as Phase 1 of New Garden Square - Moda Living is taking a masterplan forwards, which includes a further 1,600 new homes and £6m of public realm, as well as new retail, leisure and workspaces.
This build-to-rent scheme climbs to nine, 10 and 13 storeys and we topped out in June 2023, approximately one year before completion. As well as 217 one-bed, 171 two-bed and 10 three-bed homes, we’re creating a gym, a residents’ lounge and co-working, meeting and entertainment spaces. The basement car parking for 44 vehicles and cycle storage facilities stretches underneath all three blocks and externally, there are large communal gardens for residents.
Homes
