Urban Splash brings modular housing to Warrington
The developer’s off-site manufactured units are coming to the town for the first time after its House division was appointed by Homes England to deliver more than 200 homes at Grappenhall Heys.
House by Urban Splash will create 228 units at the Grappenhall Woods site in Warrington, using modern methods of construction. This marks the final phase of Homes England’s Grappenhall Heys scheme. There will be new typologies to meet local market need as well as existing models from the core range of House designs.
The project team features masterplanner Feilden Clegg Bradley, architect shedkm, landscape architect Planit-IE, as well as multidisciplinary consultant Ramboll, SK Transport as the transport advisor and Avison Young are the planning consultant.
There is outline planning consent for the project, and an online public consultation launches this week ahead of the detailed planning submission.
In addition to the homes, there is a central copse proposed that would run through the neighbourhood, providing 30,000 sq ft of green space and play areas.
The development will be the first place that House by Urban Splash homes have created in Warrington.
Nathan Cornish, director of Urban Splash, said: “We really are thrilled to have been selected by Homes England for this site where we plan to extend the existing neighbourhood, deliver more much-needed homes, and bringing our innovative, modern housebuilding concept into new parts of the North West.
“We really are excited about this site; it’s close to our head office in Manchester but it’s a very different market, that’s why we’re planning to bring a range of new house types here.
“We’ve already been successful in doing that in places like New Islington in Manchester, Port Loop in Birmingham, Irwell Riverside in Salford and Smith’s Dock in North Shields; adding Warrington to the mix will help us reach more homeowners who want to create their own home and live well by design.”
House by Urban Splash formed its partnership with Homes England and the world’s biggest Housebuilder Sekisui House in a £90m deal in 2019; it has since been appointed on new sites across the country including Inholm Northstowe in Cambridgeshire and Wirral Waters in Merseyside.
All of the factory built homes in the company’s portfolio are created using MMC to customer specifications; plans are sent to the company’s own factory in the East Midlands before being transported to site.
Cornish concluded: “The approach greatly reduces build time and is a more sustainable solution to housebuilding. We can’t wait to give local people in Grappenhall more details and look forward to engaging with the local community in the coming weeks.”
Nathan – I implore you to deliver the scheme that is illustrated by the CGI. If that level of landscaping is to be embraced within the development then well done. The street scape in many suburban areas in the US and Canada is adorned by trees and UK developers need to soften high density development if they intend to be true to delivering a sustainable scheme that truly enhances well being.
By Do the right thing.
I love the modular idea for homes but these are just boring in form, shape and colour. A bit copy and paste.
By meh
I would like to see the homes angled, still forming a line , but angled so that a little bit of privacy from neighbours is created. Landscaping and trees are a must to create the right atmosphere.
I would like to know what a house would sell for especially an end property.
By Linda
These look disgusting and planning should not be approved. The site looks like a run down holiday chalet place and will not be in keeping with the current area housing scenery .
By Jake
Is the photo a true representation of what is to come? My honest opinion they look too alike, cheap and not pretty. You can’t be building these in such a nice area. Why can’t you continue to build what we already have locally from Barratt, Jones or Bloor Homes etc.
By Anonymous
These proposals are going down like a cup of cold sick amongst the local residents of Grappenhall Heys.
By Louise
Agree with Jake. It looks like Pontins at Squires Gate.
By Elephant
They have all the style of 1940s prefab houses. I’m sure they’ll be the architectural gem of south Warrington.
By Jonathan
What. A. Slum. Horrific, dark, depressing, post-war type architectural mess. Again, beauty is a casualty. People have to look at this in the landscape. Clearly this is approved by people that grew up in this type of property and think more of the same is fine. It. Is. Not.
By Richard
Completely inappropriate design of housing for the location
By Euan
Chernobyl architecture. Why build in failure? Pitched roofs are always less maintenance over time, particularly in the rainy north west. They may look great now, but what about 25 years time? There are no amenities currently in Grappenhall Heys. Even the old Garden Village concepts from the turn of the 20th century built in schools and groceries, and healthcare provision in their plans, not just houses.
By Peter Chorley
qt’s bad enough losing green land to housing developments without adding insult to injury by throwing up such ugly, cheap and nasty looking prefabs.
By Julie Kueres
I’ve a confession to make. Whilst I admire much of what US has done, I’ve never – on an aesthetic level – liked their prefab HoUSe concept. There is nothing wrong with prefabrication. I can never love these (increasingly ubiquitous) houses.
That doesn’t mean that the wares of the Big Housing Cos are the only alternative. There are alternatives to this false dichotomy. Timekeepers Square in Salford, for example, is a reproach. Then there is Goldsmith Street in Norwich, Tibby’s Triangle in Southwold, east Suffolk, and Tornagrain near Inverness to give other examples.
I totally agree with ‘Elephant’ about Pontins at Squires Gate – that really was awful. Unfortunately, the chalets here on the Fylde have been replaced with illiterate Persimmon banality. An utterly wasted opportunity.
By Steve Webberley
Finally, someone who is daring to be different and dragging housebuilding out of the 19th century! Love the concept, hope the execution lives up to the image.
By Mat
Being factory built means that these high tech homes will be much better quality and spacious than the usual rubbish that traditional housebuilders dump on communities. Those traditionally built homes are notorious for being poor build quality, tiny rooms, paper thin walls and being appalling value for money.
Urban Splash should be applauded for bringing their innovative, high quality housing to a typically conservative small town suburban location.
By House Smart
Being factory built means that these high tech homes are likely to be much better quality than the rubbish that traditional housebuilders dump on communities. Many traditionally built homes are notorious for being of poor build quality, tiny rooms, paper thin walls and being appalling value for money.
Urban Splash should be applauded for bringing their innovative, high quality housing to a typically conservative suburban town location and shows that the product can be adapted to different economic contexts. It would be nice to see if they can tailor the elevations to different physical contexts rather than simply rolling out the same design repeatedly.
By House Smart
What an eyesore in such a beautiful area where I grew up. A beautiful village will be turned into an awful urbanisation.
By Rachel
Looks like prisoner of war barracks. Absolutely out of character for the area. Disgraceful. Reminds me of other areas of Warrington that have suffered from ghettoised design.
By NGO
appalling development – not in keeping with this area – really hope the planning committee see sense and reject it outright.
By donna
Totally out of character for this area.I live in Grappenhall which is officiously a conservation area and is very green with lots of character. This plan just horrifies me. My nephew has bought an urban splash in Manchester and that is in keeping with the area but Grappenhall’s heys Really!!!!
By Helen Smith