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Contract Name: Pepys Estate, Deptford
Contract Sum: £30,000,000 – Total
Contract Period: 6.5 Years
Architect: BPTW Architects
Client: Hyde Housing Association

The Pepys Estate is located on an historic 18th century Thames side site close to a number of Grade II listed buildings in Deptford, London. The regeneration work undertaken by Hyde Housing Association and delivered in partnership with Rydon Construction has seen the phased replacement of several blocks of 1960s and early 1970s buildings.

Undertaken in four phases, the scheme provides 285 affordable units of shared ownership and social rented homes, including spacious apartments and houses, delivered within Housing Corporation funding.

With a mix of 1, 2 and 3 bedroom flats, and general tenure split between 70% social rented and 30% shared ownership, all homes share similar design principles, layout and external appearance irrespective of tenure. The traditional management challenges of mixing rented and shared ownership homes on one site have been addressed by allocating separate entrance cores alternated throughout the phases with one terrace of houses rented and the other shared ownership.

Key objectives of the scheme's masterplan were to:

• Achieve good quality sustainable homes
• Reduce the fear of crime expressed by residents through consultation
• Maximise ease of pedestrian access through connectivity zones
• Improve the ease of access to public open space

This has been achieved, most notably by adopting ‘home zone', principles that prioritise pedestrian, cyclists and social use and dramatically calm traffic. The scheme meets Lifetime Homes standards and Phase 3 is rated EcoHomes ‘very good'.

Pushing the limits of the technology, off-site timber frame construction was employed to build the seven storey apartment blocks - among the first seven storey timber frames to be built in the UK. The frames are clad either in brickwork, render or Trespa rainscreen cladding material.

Residents had a ‘voice' right from the selection of the architects at the start of the project to consultation on, and participation in, the overview and detailed design of each phase of the development.

Pepys has been recognised as an exemplar of design excellence and sustainable principles in the built environment.

The scheme has:

• Featured in the Housing Design Awards' exhibition of excellence
• Achieved a Building for Life Silver Standard from CABE
• Won the Best Public Housing Development category at the Brick Development Association's Brick Awards in 2005
• Featured in ‘Des Res, London's Housing Challenge', a prestigious exhibition at the New London Architecture (NLA) Centre

The four phases comprised:

Phase 1 - 127 timber frame flats in four, 5-storey blocks and seven, 3-storey town houses
Phase 2 - 42 concrete framed flats in one, 6-storey block
Phase 3 - 108 timber frame flats in two, 5, 6 and 7-storey blocks
Phase 4 - 8 3/4 bedroom 3 storey town houses in timberframe

The scheme was completed in October 2008.