Breyer Group were successfully appointed by Hammersmith and Fulham Homes to carry out repairs, overcladding, environmental improvements and associated works to Norland House, Poynter House and Stebbing House, located on the Edward Woods Estate in West London.
The rest of the Edward Woods Estate has been overhauled over the past decade, with the three hard-to-tackle high-rise blocks left until last.
The aim of this improvement scheme was to improve the living environment for residents in the blocks, and was part of the ongoing regeneration on the estate, benefiting the community as a whole. It was anticipated that the works would not only improve the living conditions of residents and appearance of the blocks, it would also deliver reductions in energy consumption and costs, and hence CO2 emissions.
The scheme incorporated the largest building-integrated renewable energy array in London, generating solar and wind-powered electricity for the buildings’ communal facilities and greatly reduced CO2 emissions attributed to the buildings. Value was added to the towers through the creation of four super-insulated low-carbon flats at each tower’s roof level, and the conversion of under-utilised ground level storage areas into office space for rent to local charitable organisations.
Edward Woods Estate is situated in the north east corner of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. The estate provides 754 homes comprising 226 maisonettes and flats in 4 five-storey walk-up podium blocks (Boxmoor, Mortimer, Hume and Swanscombe Houses) and 528 flats in the three tower blocks which are the subject of this Project (Poynter, Stebbing and Norland Houses).
Norland, Poynter and Stebbing Houses are each 24 storey identical blocks (of which 22 storeys contain dwellings), and constructed in the 1960s. The blocks comprise insitu reinforced concrete frames, with cavity flank walls with block inner leaf and brickwork outer leaf, concrete private balconies, PVCu double glazed windows (installed in the early 1990s), all under flat roofs.
Each of the three tower blocks consists of 176 existing homes comprising 44 bedsits, 88 one-bedroom flats and 44 two-bedroom flats. There are currently 466 tenanted and 62 leaseholder homes. Each tower block contains a concierge at ground level.
The works involved within this improvement project included:
The visual impact of the Edward Woods Estate as a major West London landmark is huge, and these improvement works to the tower blocks have transformed their impact further. The installation of photovoltaic panels to the south-facing facades have comprised the largest of its kind in London. Overall, both we, and LBH&F consider this scheme to be a flagship regeneration project for the borough.