Blog: SECBE Awards 2022 finalist - Bradbury View

05 April 2022

Residential Project of the Year

Bradbury View (submitted by Ridge and Partners LLP) 

Residential Project of the Year Constructing Excellence SECBE Award 2022 Finalist

Trinity is a Winchester charity which has run a drop-in centre in the city for vulnerable and homeless people, Bradbury House, for 34 years. This Design-and Build project provided a residential extension, Bradbury View, creating 12 bedsit-style apartments for homeless people, helping them to transition away from sleeping rough.

The flatlets were designed in a psychologically informed way, implementing design solutions provided by Dr Jill Pable, to help provide a fully supportive environment. Each has a kitchenette and en-suite bathroom. The Kingfisher room provides a tranquil therapy space to deliver a range of therapies to residents to help them “get well, be well and stay well”. The social area, “Ben’s Place”, includes a communal kitchen and lounge leading to a nature garden, helping residents to socialise with one another and with visitors.

Bradbury View is a two-storey building which employed a structurally insulated panel system (SIPS), manufactured offsite, which offers sustainability benefits in terms of energy efficiency and limiting the structure’s carbon footprint.

The new facility was designed and constructed to visually complement the existing building, including the use of render and timber cladding to create an aesthetically pleasing atmosphere for those who live within. The material and colour pallets and abundant natural light provide a wellbeing-friendly internal environment, reinforced by the pleasant surroundings.

The site is located near the city centre, in a pleasant area on the edge of the Winnall Moors nature reserve. Trinity’s aim is to provide support to as many as 25 rough-sleeping people annually in addition to the 150 non-residents already receiving therapeutic support at Bradbury House.

The project delivered an excellent and attractive facility, tailored for purpose, which was designed and constructed with the needs of the client and the end users in mind. The facility is now being used to provide wellbeing-friendly accommodation in addition to the structured activities, therapies, education and treatment available in the adjacent building. Homeless Link described the project as one of the first “congregate Housing First schemes” developed in the UK, the first to combine a purpose-built day centre and residential accommodation.

The project enabled Trinity to quickly begin offering a vital service to transform the lives of homeless people in Winchester, and the building’s first residents to settle in, adapt and make a new start within an attractive and user-focused facility. The project could potentially facilitate the transformation of hundreds of lives over the coming years, giving 12 people at a time the opportunity to transition towards employment, social reintegration and self-sufficiency.

Ridge and Partners LLP (Ridge) was appointed as M&E Consultant, client-side, as well as Employer’s Agent, with Bentley Projects Ltd. (Bentley) as Main Contractor and Hyphen as architects. The M&E consultants monitored and advised on the contractor’s M&E designs while Ridge's role as Employer’s Agent service included quantity surveying/cost control. The project team worked collaboratively with each other and with Trinity to ensure the delivery of a high-quality building suitable for the nuanced needs of both the client and the end users.

Key achievements:

• The project delivers an excellent and attractive facility, designed and constructed with the needs of the client and the end users in mind. The flatlets were designed in a psychologically informed way, while the social areas and garden space were designed to boost wellbeing. Homeless Link described the project as one of the first “congregate Housing First schemes” developed in the UK, the first to combine a purpose-built day centre and residential accommodation.

• The use of use of a SIPS construction method greatly reduces the building’s carbon footprint and accelerated the construction programme by 10 weeks, compared with traditional construction.

• Trinity being a charity providing a vital community service, the project team performed much of the role for free and worked intensively to ensure the project was completed on time, within budget and to a very high standard.

Client: Trinity Winchester

Partners: Ridge and Partners LLP, Bentley Projects, Hyphen

Find out who wins at the Constructing Excellence SECBE Awards 2022 Ceremony on Thurs 30th June 2022.

About the Residential Project of the Year (sponsored by SCF): 

This award recognises developments that provide a desirable and sustainable place to live that demonstrate creative approaches from concept to delivery.  More info.

>> Find out more about the other Constructing Excellence SECBE Awards finalists here