Work has started on site at 39A-49A Woodgrange Road, Forest Gate in the London Borough of Newham, to deliver much-needed new homes for the area.
Higgins Partnerships has been appointed by Clarion Housing Group, the UK’s largest provider of affordable housing, to transform the vacant brownfield site and build 74 shared ownership, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments along with retail units on the ground floor.
The building has been designed around two cores, which are situated to the north and south sides of the development and will vary in height between a total of five and seven storeys on the Woodgrange Road elevation, stepping up in height towards the north of the site.
Bricks will be used on the lower levels of the development to ensure it is in keeping with the surrounding Victorian context in the Forest Gate Town Centre Conservation Area, while the top levels will use pre-patinated copper cladding to emphasise the contrast between the body and top of the building.
Steve Leakey, Managing Director of Higgins Partnerships commented: “We are delighted to be working with Clarion to transform this redundant brownfield site into much needed new homes and commercial space for the area of Forest Gate. We are committed to providing training and employment opportunities for the local community and will be creating seven apprenticeships along with community investment.”
The homes will benefit from the close proximity of the Forest Gate train station and there will also be cycle parking within the development.
Richard Cook, Group Director of Development at Clarion Housing Group, said: “Working with like-minded partners is so important to all of us at Clarion, and our collaboration with Higgins Partnerships on Woodgrange Road is a great example of this. Not only will we be creating much-needed new affordable homes, but we’ll also be creating employment opportunities for local people as well as delivering new retail units to provide amenities for residents and the wider community to enjoy.”
The architect for the project is Calford Seaden.
