Jeremiah Smith House

Jeremiah Smith House
Luton
Jeremiah Smith House
Design features
Jeremiah Smith House is 24 flats split over two
blocks of three floors each which are joined by
a communal atrium. It comprises of fifteen one
bedroom and nine two bedroom homes.
After acquiring the site from Luton Borough
Council in October 2009 work on site began
immediately.
Aldwyck Hosuing Group were able to develop
these homes after winning a design competition
run by Luton Borough Council and the Marsh
Farm Community Development Trust in 2007.
• Timber frame construction
Partners
Contractor Parrotts and Luton Borough Council.
Funding
This development was supported by the HCA with
£1,368,000 in grant funding and the land was
provided by Luton Borough Council.
Notable points of design include:
• Flats are divided between two blocks,
designed in a v-shaped formation
• A natural atrium is formed between the two
blocks creating a informal communal area
• Power is produced by the 54 photovoltaic
panels on the roof of the western block with
any additional power generated being sold
back to the national grid
• Built to Lifetime Homes standards and has
reached Code for Sustainable Homes Level 3.
Working with the majority of incoming residents
allowed them to be involved in the choice of their
individual property and internal finish, including
kitchen units and flooring.
Local labour and training initiatives
Project details
Aldwyck worked closely with Parrotts and the
Marsh Farm Community Development Trust to
develop a number of initiatives to promote the use
of local labour and training on the site.
Architect: PRP Architects
Working with local construction colleges,Barnfield
and Ridgemond, a total of 21 NVQ students
gained the on site experience required to allow
them to gain their qualifications.
Awards
Parrotts appointed a full time on site mentor for
students throughout the period of the contract.
A site assistant was also employed to work with
the team and both of these positions went to
members of the local community. Local security
firm, Warrior Security, was hired to provide out
of hours security providing further employment
opportunities for the local populous.
A series of taster sessions were also arranged at
the site to inspire local community members to
get involved in the construction industry. These
were well attended and a number of those who
participated are known to have gone on to full
training courses as a result.
The success of the training initiatives used on this
site have inspired Aldwyck to use similar initiatives
on many of their other sites and are committed
to working with local colleges to provide much
needed training to students in the future.
Contractor: VE Parrott (Oakley) Ltd
Aldwyck Housing Group and Parrotts were
awarded a Special Commendation at the London
Evening Standard ‘New Homes Awards 2011’ in
the category of Best Regeneration Project.
Aldwyck has also been shortlisted in the category
of Contribution to Community in the National
Housing Federation ‘What We are Proud of
Awards 2011’.
VE Parrott received the Employer of the Year 2011
award from Ridgemond Training in recognition of
their use of trainees on the site.
Aldwyck Housing Group
6 Houghton Hall Business Park
Houghton Regis
Beds
LU5 5UZ
Tel: 0300 500 6262
Email: [email protected]