24 PROJECT REPORT Setting up base
An ambitious project in Gosport demonstrates how utilising modern methods of construction is possible for all kinds of developments, as VerdeGO Living’s David Craddock explains to Roseanne Field
P
ortsmouth is a city known for its naval history. Since the 15th century it’s been a key hub for Navy activity, with various bases around the city’s waterfront. One such base is Priddy’s Hard, located near Gosport, overlooking the Historic Dockyard and Gunwharf Quays across the harbour.
Priddy’s Hard was an ordnance depot, established in the mid-1700s. It was a naval fortress and produced munitions for the Navy until being decommissioned in the 1980s, at which point it was passed to Gosport Borough Council, before being passed on again to the Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust, who also own the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. he brownfield site is within a Conservation Area, and contains a number of listed buildings and structures, as well as being a listed Scheduled Ancient Monument, meaning it has been identified as a nationally important archeological site and is protected from “unauthorised change.” It also borders a ite of pecific cientific nterest and a Ramsar Site – a designated wetland of international importance under Ramsar Convention. Despite the dilapidated state of the historically significant site and buildings – several of which were on the Buildings at Risk Register – getting to the stage of being able to make use of the site and
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save the decaying buildings was anything but easy, as David Craddock, founder of low energy housebuilder VerdeGO Living discovered.
e first bought part of the site in 2016, and has since bought more of it in phases. he first phase consisted of the construction of nine modern units in collaboration with John Pardey, and received recognition from the RTPI for its architecture.
Craddock has an extensive background in the construction of low energy buildings, having worked with closed timber panel systems for many years, as well as being a founding member of the Passivhaus Trust. “I’ve been very much involved in sustainable low energy buildings for a long time, looking at all forms of MMC and different types of renewable energy sources and ways in which we can heat and ventilate and cool our buildings,” he explains. “Not only from the end use for the customer, but how we can improve our construction processes.”
A COMPLEX CASE
It was following the construction of the initial nine units that things started to get a little more complicated. The Trust had the opportunity to obtain grant funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, and so discussions about developing sections
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