A new build development of 7 contemporary town houses located in the heart of Warlingham Village. The houses consist of 2 terraces constructed with timber frame and a combination of brick and render exterior. The windows are anthracite wrapped with matching aluminium bi-fold doors. The steep roofs were finished in grey slate and fitted with seamless colour coordinated gutters and down pipes. The lead clad triangular shaped dormas add real character to the overall look of the development and give a bespoke look to the close. All these features set against the graphite render give a contemporary look to this new development.
We really enjoyed this development as it was our first completely flat site. However, the pleasure was not long lasting as onsite testing discovered the land was contaminated – traces of asbestos were found in soil samples. This meant that half a meter of soil was to be removed and taken to a designated asbestos site. Due to the low grade of corrugated white asbestos found, we managed the health and safety onsite. This was implemented with the use of water suppression, wheel washing, masks and protective clothing and general site management. Once the site was cleared of all contaminated land, the build was straight-forward and able to commence.
After ground investigations, we found the best way to way to create the foundations was to use the piled raft method. In an unorthodox method, we decided to lay the underfloor heating pipes before the houses were constructed. The team installed the pipes onto insulation boards on top of the raft and covered them in concrete screed. This new method saved us weeks of drying time on the project.
The civil engineering involved in this development was of a scale of Marshall Regan had never been faced with before. This included the construction of a main roadway in and out, 15 residents parking bays, street lighting and surface water drainage systems. The soft landscaping of the close was made up of trees planting, scrubs and lawns. This was a real contrast against the natural colouring of the resin bound pathways and parking bays.
Marshall Regan’s team worked closely with all local residents and business owners as the location of the project was in a highly sensitive area being the back gardens of nearby residents and entrance to local businesses. Traffic management and positive neighbourly relationships were key to this development.
Spears Close was named after an engineering business that was located at the site from the early 1900’s.
