Brentwood’s Brookfield Close has been identified by Essex County Council as an exemplar development to be recognised in the soon to be published climate commission report.
The scheme will use a Passivhaus fabric-first approach on the new build. Although most of the new housing will require full demolition of the existing buildings, an existing 3-storey block, currently housing 15 flats will be stripped back to the core, and retrofitted to zero carbon fabric standards.
This not only maintains the spirit of the development but also gives the council the opportunity, on this first development, to assess the impact and benefits of new build versus retrofitted zero carbon products for its future programme.
ARK Director, Ian Winslet said: “The proposal will deliver the first new council homes at scale in Brentwood for more than 40 years. It will reduce resident’s bills, we predict, to less than £100 a year, tackling in parallel both fuel poverty and the council’s own housing waiting list.
“The development has already attracted regional attention and has been identified by the County as an exemplar development to be recognised in the soon to be published climate The development, we believe, creates a strong sense of place using the arrangement of streets and green spaces to provide an attractive neighbourhood setting that is safe, inclusive and also accessible as delivering higher density, and a greater efficient use of land as hitherto been the case at Brookfield Close”.
ARK has played a leading strategic role in the evolution of the scheme, just one of a wide range of projects and developments being delivered for councils and housing associations throughout the UK.
