WhatHouse? Awards 2015 winners – Lovell, Best Partnership Scheme
Posted 2 December 2015 by
Keith OsborneMany developments only get built as a result of the collaboration between housebuilders and other organisations, and Lovell’s Bronze WhatHouse? Award for Best Partnership scheme recognises the company’s skill at making such projects achieve exceptional results.
David Walliams presented the WhatHouse? Award to the Lovell team at the Gala Luncheon at the Grosvenor House Hotel on 20 November. The prize was given for two ‘sister’ schemes, The Paddocks and Old Common Mews, at the hilltop village on Minchinhampton in Gloucestershire, where Lovell worked with Stroud District Council to build the area’s first new council homes in 30 years.
Justine Elliott, national sales director for Lovell, says: “We’re incredibly proud of this scheme which was developed and delivered in close partnership with Stroud District Council, and is a stunning demonstration of just how much a successful partnership approach can achieve. This new community-based development of open market and affordable homes, built and designed to a very high standard in a sensitively landscaped setting, has brought fresh energy and life to this part of Minchinhampton.
“Working with the council we’ve been able to deliver excellent quality homes, including the area’s first new council homes for over 30 years and some exceptional new housing for sale. Ensuring the development is firmly rooted in the local community has been a priority, with initiatives supporting local organisations and providing training opportunities, creating a lasting legacy of benefits. To see the industry experts recognise the partnership’s achievements with a WhatHouse? Award really is the icing on the cake.”
The WhatHouse? Awards judges said of the company’s achievement:
“Lovell does this kind of project really well, as proved by its consistent recognition by the judging panel over the years, and this scheme in the delightful hilltop village of Minchinhampton reinforces this strength once again.
The £9.5m scheme has provided 66 homes of one, two, three and four bedrooms over two sites, the council adopting 35 of them for shared ownership and affordable rent. There are five different levels of interior specification, depending on whether homes are for rent, shared ownership or open-market sale, though from the outside this pepperpotted scheme is tenure blind.
Lovell has created some attractive street scenes: some of the properties overlook a generously sized green, allowing parents to watch their children playing from the kitchen; and the mix of external finishes incorporates lots of golden Cotswold stone, complementing neighbouring existing properties, and the local vernacular, very well.”