Refurbishment Case Studies
Alexander Court
Contract Value: £3 million
Contract Period: 52 weeks
Architect: The Facility
Client: AmicusHorizon
Rydon secured a £3m redevelopment and refurbishment of Alexander Court to provide 38 much needed high quality and affordable homes for rent in Bexhill, East Sussex.
The existing building is a 1970’s, two and three storey block of supported housing flats for older people located in Bexhill-on-Sea.
The scheme comprises the remodelling and refurbishment of the existing complex to provide 18 one and two bedroom units and a further 20 one bedroom self-contained units. These reside within a new four-storey extension, built using volumetric modular construction.
Internally, refurbishment work is providing new kitchens, communal and quiet areas for the elderly residents. Externally, the building will feature timber cladding, balcony areas for the one bedroom flats and landscaped garden areas.
The room modules are manufactured off-site by modular building specialists Enemetric at their factory in Scotland. Each room leaves the factory fitted with services and en-suite bathrooms, which are transported by road to the site and are craned and fixed into place. Once the services are connected, the rooms are almost ready to use.
Using modular construction has been shown to deliver significant benefits in the following areas:
- Thermal insulation and air tightness
- Up to 73% more thermally efficient than traditional building (U-values between 0.19 and 0.11)
- Up to 78% better air tightness than building standards require
- Reduced waste, CO2 emissions and up to 100% recyclability
- Up to a 70% reduction in CO2 emissions (during manufacture) compared to traditional build
- Faster construction times
- Time spent on site can be vastly reduced, resulting in knock-on cost savings through the project
- Variables such as weather have a much reduced impact
- Higher quality
- Thorough design and preparation within the controlled environment of a factory can help achieve a level of quality not attainable on a traditional building site
- Safety
- Offsite manufacture can considerably reduce the risks associated with traditional building methods and reduces workers exposure to harsh weather conditions
The new Alexander Court building will reach at least Level 3 of the Code for Sustainable Homes, ensuring all homes are warm, efficient and that energy bills are kept to a minimum for residents. Rydon is also working on another site for AmicusHorizon a short distance away in Sidley, delivering a new Extra Care scheme comprising 58 apartments.