• Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

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Eco retirement homes scoop national building award

Screen Shot 2015-11-02 at 09.03.10AN ECO retirement development has won a national building award for the consistent high quality of its zero carbon bungalows.

The Waterside, which is part of Middleton Hall Retirement Village, near Darlington, scooped the Development of the Year award, 11 to 50 units at a glittering ceremony for The Bricks 2015, in London.

The Bricks recognises the exceptional work of developers and contractors who go the extra mile to deliver quality construction and design. The awards took place at One Embankment in London and were hosted by TV star Alexander Armstrong.

Judges praised The Waterside’s ‘exceptional standards of finish that the development consistently achieved.’

The Waterside is the first zero carbon retirement development in the UK and each of the 35 bungalows are fitted with wood burning stoves, triple glazed windows and thick insulation and benefit from electricity generated from PV (photovoltaic) panels.

The first residents moved into The Waterside in autumn 2013 and this summer saw the launch of the final phase of the development scheduled for completion by the end of 2016. Only four of the 35 property development remain available for sale.

The first residents have already received little or no energy bills with one resident receiving £125 back from the Feed-in-Tariff.

Jeremy Walford, managing director at Middleton Hall Retirement Village, attended the event with The Waterside’s construction manager Graeme Bell and site manager Joe Starkie.

“I’m delighted that all the hard work and clear focus on quality throughout the Waterside has been recognised. Apart from the innovation in building the first zero carbon retirement housing in the UK, the attention to detail has been apparent by how pleased all our customers have been in moving in.”

LABC Warranty, which runs The Bricks, works in partnership with Local Authority Building Control (LABC) to provide a comprehensive range of structural warranties.

Mike Swatton, LABC Warranty business development director and head judge said since the awards had developed, they had seen build standards improve and with more than 3,000 sites eligible, it was a great achievement to be one of the 30 finalists who attended the ceremony.

“The standard of the nominees across the board has been unprecedented, once again raising the bar for next year,” said Mike.

The £9m expansion of Middleton Hall Retirement Village’s accommodation and facilities has included creating a new Orangery with a cafe, bar and shop, selling produce grown at Middleton Hall and by local organic suppliers.

By admin