Glenvale Park in Wellingborough, UK, is a new neighbourhood being built with social value at its core.
Supported by funding from Homes England, a range of market-leading national developers have been enlisted to deliver the new neighbourhood. Six housebuilders have also been given responsibility to develop an area of the new neighbourhood to create a vibrant and high-quality development that meets the needs of a diverse community.
One of which is social housing provider Stonewater. Infrastructure, construction and property services giant United Living New Homes is delivering the 148 mixed-tenure homes and apartments that feature within Stonewater’s dedicated area. These will comprise of two, three and four bedroom houses, and one and two bedroom flats, worth £23 million in total[1].
Seventy-four of the new properties on this site will be available for social and affordable rent. There will also be 35 new homes available for shared ownership and 39 offered through the Rent to Buy scheme1.
Cutting edge homes
The homes needed a source of heating and hot water that would meet residents needs and comply with the amended Part L building regulations that cover the conservation of fuel and power. Samsung Climate Solutions air source heat pumps were selected to achieve this, specifically the Samsung EHS Monobloc R32 Heat Pumps, both 5kW and 8kW.
Rhys Bevan, Environmental Sustainability Business Partner (Development) at Stonewater, said: “Since April of 2021 Stonewater has been committed to ensuring that all new Land and Build schemes were only approved if developed to an off-gas standard[2]. Air Source Heat Pumps offer a reliable and cost-effective way for us to manage this transition to off-gas2 as they are easy to integrate into designs and are easy for our customers to operate.
“Additionally, by building to these off-gas2 standards now, we reduce the need for retrofitting off-gas2 systems in the future, meaning the lifetime costs of these homes is reduced by building for the future now.”
Samsung heat pumps form part of a wider picture to achieve Stonewater’s ambitious commitments. As well as air-source heat pumps, the development will also incorporate electric vehicle (EV) charging points at designated plots across the site.
Installing the heat pumps
Building services contractor, Briggs & Forrester Living was hired to install electrical and plumbing services to the properties, including the heating systems. Graham Brooks, its Housing Director, stated: “Samsung’s heat pumps stood out during this project because they had a compact and light design which made them quick and easy for installation. This also makes them ideal for built up areas and critical in a project of this scale where time is of the essence.
“This was one of the first projects we have worked on since the amendments to Part L. Working with new technologies does come with nuances. The Samsung team were always quick to respond to our queries and came to the site to offer training and technical support.”
Supporting the supply chain
This is a large site with multiple projects being delivered at the same time which means sticking to tight timeframes is critical. For all parties involved, having a reliable supplier that could help achieve this was essential.
Geoff Bown, Project Manager at United Living, said: “In a project of this scale, reliability is number one on the priority list. We need to know that suppliers can meet supply demands and timeframes, that they are available for any support we require and that ultimately, once we fit the products the residents will live in homes with reliable heating systems. With Samsung, we found this.
“Samsung’s air source heat pumps have multiple benefits for residents, including that they can. connect to Samsung’s SmartThings app[3]. Once connected residents can use the app to control the connected devices and monitor their energy usage. There will be a learning curve for new residents, but training will be provided to them, so we have peace of mind that Samsung’s heat pumps will meet their needs and help us deliver comfortable homes.”
Maximising the benefits for residents
Training is critical to maximise the benefits for residents, as Rhys Bevan continued: “We recognise that these off-gas2 solutions are new to many of our customers and as such we provide support and advice around how to make the most efficient use of their home and heating system.
“Samsung has been helpful with the educational aspect to Stonewater and our customers, providing in-person training as well as online overviews for different team members.”
Sunny Vashisht, Business Development Manager at Samsung Climate Solutions said: “Our heat pumps have been critical to delivering comfortable homes to the new residents at Glenvale Park. While we have designed our heat pumps with both the installer and the end-user in mind, for residents to feel the true benefits, training is vital. This means installations need to be made effectively and residents need to know how to use their heat pump.
“Training continues to be a core priority for us, having recently launched our new training centre in Manchester, which complements our existing facility in Chertsey. These opportunities for installers to learn are critical and it has been great to see that Stonewater, United Living and Briggs & Forrester have recognised this too and invested in ensuring that each person has the resources they need to do the job effectively. So, when residents do move in, they will quickly get used to the new systems in their home and feel comfortable living there.”
The bigger picture
Once complete, Stonewater’s homes will form part of the wider development consisting of 3,000 new homes, of which 675 will be affordable housing.
The new community will also have access to a range of amenities including a 25,000 sqm business park, a local centre with retail, food and drink venues, two primary schools and a nursery, as well as a community hub and over 200 acres of parkland. The new neighbourhood will be well connected, serviced by an excellent road network, the train station only a five minute drive away and five airports, including Heathrow and Birmingham within a 70 mile radius.
As well as great amenities and transport links, social value has been at the heart of this project. The developers have calculated the positive impact the site will have on the community. For every pound spent during construction, the development will generate £2.03 of social value for the local community, due to total more than £1.6bn once it has been built.
On top of this, 900 jobs and apprenticeships have been created during the construction. After completion, it is anticipated Glenvale Park will create 3,000 new jobs and result in a total economic impact of almost £1.5bn[4].
