CASE STUDY 23
all while forming affordable community homes.
GETTING STARTED David Cross, co-founder of Coda Architects, explored the concept’s origin: “Sky-House was born about 10 years ago as an idea to recreate sensitive density and urban communities.” David said it took “several years of detailed negotiation” with site owners Harworth Estates, who he said “have been amazing in their support to select the right location for us to deliver this unique contemporary development.” Planning permission was granted for the scheme in October 2017. He told Housebuilder & Developer that it has been a long process getting up to this point, taking “five years to get the idea approved by councils and banks, and then five years to buy the site!”
Rotherham did however pass the application in seven weeks, with David adding: “Rotherham Council, Harworth Group and Homes England have been amazing and supported us as a start-up SME developer.”
Construction began in spring 2018, with the development process being split into two phases of 22 homes – the first having been delivered in early June this year. Phase 2 is planned for the end of December, and then Site 2, comprising another 44 homes, is set to undergo construction in January 2020.
FINDING THE SITE The project is based in Waverley, a 740-acre development site owned by the Harworth Group. This new town is intended to
deliver mixed-use development in partner- ship with housebuilders, manufacturers and developers, with over 200 acres of the site dedicated to the public realm, including woodlands, two large lakes and play areas. The new community is formed from the
old Orgreave Colliery coal mine in the Sheffield City Region, and is already host to property for Boeing, McLaren and the University of Sheffield on the Advanced Manufacturing Park, alongside more than 3,000 new homes. The Sky-House concept is well-suited to this focus on open spaces, both in terms of the homes’ interiors and gardens, as well as the shared public play space in between them. With much of the Victorian back-to-back housing being demolished more than 60 years, the new homes are a far cry from their ancestors in terms of the usable and open spaces, but will however follow their tenet of affordability. By the time the project had secured the
brownfield land Sky-House is to inhabit, the team had reportedly been “shuffled around Waverley” – this in fact being the third site. The architect commented that it was a “bare, remediated site,” but that it inspired the team’s hopes “to continue and deliver six more phases and over 350 Sky- House homes in various iterations” throughout the eventual development plan. David reinforced the message that the site is a fitting choice, which he said is because of its close proximity to the new school and new town centre, and as such is “ideal for our brand ethos.”
THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS The back-to-back housing concept that the
THE NEW HOMES ARE A FAR CRY FROM THEIR ANCESTORS IN TERMS OF THE USABLE AND OPEN SPACES, BUT WILL HOWEVER FOLLOW THEIR TENET OF AFFORDABILITY
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