Plan submitted for net-zero carbon retirement village
LONDON: A plan has now been submitted for a net zero carbon retirement village.
The 14,985m2 scheme also aims to achieve the emerging Fitwel Standard, which is scored on environmental sustainability, wellbeing, transport connections, safety and landscape.
The six-villa extra-care development, for developer Retirement Villages Group, is on the former Beechmoor Garden Centre in Whitchurch Road and will create more than 140 apartments.
The architect, working with engineer Max Fordham, hopes to reduce the carbon emissions from heating and other services by nearly a half compared to Part L and says it was been driven by the whole-building-life-cycle during the design development.
According to the practice, the appearance of the retirement campus, which is set within the green belt, was inspired by the ‘characterful nature of the Tudor town’ through a series of pitched roofs. The scheme also features a central clock tower which will ‘act as a beacon for this new community set amongst the surrounding trees’.
Tim Riley of RCKa described the proposal as a ‘vanguard project’ for the developer, adding: ‘The project’s ambitions regarding design quality, sustainability, health and wellbeing, biodiversity and placemaking far exceed any standards set by planning policy.
‘If approved, this project will set a benchmark for developments in the region and the retirement sector. Furthermore, it will demonstrate that, through meaningful collaboration with local stakeholders, high-quality designs can be developed that bring multiple benefits to local communities.’
The project has already been through two design review panel presentations, and a decision by Cheshire West & Chester Council is expected in January 2021.
Subject to approval work couild start on site next summer.
The architect’s view
This ambitious proposal raises the bar for retirement housing, with wellbeing, sustainability and community cohesion at its heart. The site is well connected and forms part of the arrival sequence into Chester.
A former garden centre is replaced with an attractive composition of six villas arranged to integrate with a verdant landscape and respond to key routes providing a new gateway into Chester.
The villas at Boughton Heath have been designed to accommodate the needs of a retirement community, including a wide range of communal facilities that will be open to the public. The development has also been planned to adhere to the new Fitwel Standard.
Communal facilities and shared spaces will be organised around a central pedestrianised ‘avenue’ and a community square, helping to ensure that the residents remain fit, healthy and socially active, whilst also encouraging connections to the wider community.
’A net-zero carbon target has been set for the project with a high-performance building fabric and a site-wide ‘ambient loop” heat network, reducing the carbon emissions from heating and other services by nearly 50 per cent compared to Part L (2013). This combined with renewable energy generated on site will lead to further reduction in emissions. A 40 per cent reduction in embodied carbon over typical residential development is targeted. All of these measures combined with post-completion monitoring of overall energy use will enable the scheme to set the standard for low-carbon retirement developments.
The design team has had to consider the whole-building-life-cycle to make sure that both the operational and embodied carbon are taken into account, which means not burning fossil fuels and being very selective about where building materials come from.
Located on a brownfield site that sits within the Greenbelt, the development responds to a local need for extra-care housing, and achieves an optimum number of units needed to prevent urban sprawl, but balances this with large landscaped areas.
The site, adjacent to a park and ride, and local transport links, will be connected to a nearby canal foot/cycle path. Together with the on-site mobility hub which will be open to all, the development encourages a car-free alternative route into the heart of Chester.
