Delivering 100 general needs houses, 16 specialist bungalows, and a 60-bed extra care facility, Throstle Recreation's transformation enhances community living with new roads, green spaces, and state-of-the-art public amenities in Middleton, Leeds.
Located in Middleton, Leeds, the Throstle Recreation project involves transforming an existing green space into a comprehensive residential and care facility. The development includes 100 general needs houses, 16 specialist bungalows and a 60-bed extra care facility. The project also features new roads, green spaces, hard and soft landscaping, an energy centre, and a new substation.
Gleeds’ cost management team provided project management and cost management services to the client, Leeds City Council. Gleeds administered the NEC3 contract, fostering a collaborative environment, managing risks and effectively adapting to project changes. With close monitoring of the project timeline and budget, Gleeds ensured contingency plans were in place to address any uncertainties as they arose.
In addition to standard contract administration, Gleeds produced several schedules and trackers to allow the project to be managed and audited effectively throughout the construction process. This facilitated a smooth handover and defects liability period for all parties involved.
The challenge
Leeds City Council established the Council Housing Growth Programme to achieve its ambitious target of delivering approximately 300 new units per year, starting from 2019. The programme was initially approved by the Council’s Executive Board in November 2018, with further approvals in December 2018 and June 2019.
This ambitious target aimed to address the shortage of social housing stock and provide affordable homes, as well as specialist facilities, to meet the growing demand for affordable social housing in Leeds.
While delivering the main outputs of houses, bungalows, and an extra care facility, consideration had to be given to the local community, as the site was previously a large public open space.
Consequently, the designs needed to include a new public open space accessible to the local community, with additions such as play areas, hardstanding paths, benches, trees, wildflower planting, and white lining for a potential football pitch for the local team, Middleton FC.
Solution
Gleeds' solution focused on managing the quality of the scheme within the project's budget and management reserves. Various cost engineering exercises were conducted to reduce the budget without compromising overall quality, whether in the accommodations or the landscaped areas. Due to the timescales for handing over the properties to generate income for the client, Gleeds implemented an efficient and quick handover process for all 176 properties. This ensured the client could obtain steady income from the new tenants as quickly as possible once the plots were completed, fully inspected, snagged, and cleaned.
The project consisted of seven phases: five dedicated to housing/bungalows, one for the extra care facility, and one for the public open space. Each phase included a 12-month defects liability period for all properties and areas.
Results
The teams at Gleeds ensured the project was completed successfully, with all properties handed over to their new tenants. Although the landscaped areas experienced delays due to unprecedented weather events, they were handed over in August 2024 following a dry spell of weather. This not only completed the individual properties and extra care facility, but it allowed the public open space to be accessible to the whole community.
The successful delivery of the properties increased the client’s housing stock, allowing more families to have appropriately sized homes. It also provided people with specialist needs a specific and tailored facility to live in and feel part of a community. The facilities include multi-use rooms, a communal lounge, servery, orangery, roof terrace, and secluded gardens. The scheme also achieved Secure by Design (SBD) Gold and was awarded the Best Affordable & Social Housing Development at the Insider Placemaking Awards in June 2024.
Throstle Recreation now sets the client’s standard in terms of housing stock and extra are facilities. As a result, the client is rewriting their specification documents to mirror what was delivered during this project.
Following the successful completion of the Throstle Recreation project, Gleeds has been appointed to provide project management and cost management services for another extra care scheme that the client is developing (Middlecross Extra Care). This will allow Gleeds to apply the lessons learned from Throstle Recreation, whilst using the same on-site team, to set a new benchmark for the client.
