Fisher Road and Kempthorne Gardens, Walsall

Willmott Dixon was appointed to deliver two neighbouring social housing projects by Walsall Housing Group, which were amalgamated to achieve practical and financial benefits.

Both schemes redeveloped derelict brownfield sites, with 37 homes on the Fisher Road site and 18 on Kempthorne Gardens.

For the groundworks, extensive drilling, grouting and vibro compaction works were required to stabilise the existing ground and upgrade its bearing capacities.

Willmott Dixon raised the level of the sites and adjusted the drainage to dramatically increase the volume of waste diverted from landfill to 99.5%.

Sustainability

The homes achieved Code for Sustainable Homes Level 3. The building envelope used a special fabric which maximised natural ventilation and the energy efficiency of the building.

Community

Willmott Dixon provided supervised work experience programmes on site for construction students from Walsall College. In total we organised 245 school/college/university site visits and 239 people attended short courses. We provided 168 weeks of work for existing and project initiated apprentices.

Willmott Dixon achieved 84% local spend within 20 miles and 98% within 40 miles of the sites to maximise inward investment in the wider community.

The site was situated in an existing housing estate and the team engaged closely with the local residents to ensure disruption was kept to a minimum. Construction methods were carefully selected to limit noise and disruption. There were zero complaints throughout the construction period.

The Considerate Constructors Monitor commented on the “high levels of care and consideration were demonstrated.” The scheme achieved a score of 39 out of 40.