The project is an exploration in the retrofit of social housing by Populo Living, Newham Council’s housing company. The project will be a precedent; providing solutions and lessons learnt to inform the Council’s future approach to optimising, but not overdeveloping, their existing assets.

The pioneering design refurbishes an existing residential building, comprising 12 apartments, and creates 19 new affordable homes through the construction of a two-storey roof-top extension and an adjoining six-storey new build block. Webb Yates Engineers are responsible for the building services design for the project, including energy and sustainability strategies.

A key challenge posed by the design is delivering the improvements whilst the existing homes are retained, with residents in situ throughout the entire project programme. This means that minimising disruption, through extensive stakeholder engagement and well-coordinated delivery, is a crucial objective for the scheme.

The services strategy is being developed to achieve the client’s aspirations of net-zero for the new build aspects, and a significant increase in energy efficiency, and therefore reduced bills, for the existing residents. A fabric-first approach has been adopted by the designers, which will be supported through on-site renewable energy generation, and efficient systems such as heat pumps and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR).