Since our last update on St. Anne’s Quarter in the summer of 2015 things have certainly come on a long way. During the last three years the Ingleton Wood design team has been working closely with Orbit and project managers TCM and ISG Contractors to deal with a range of planning amendments, but also to develop the technical detail of the package for the construction phase.
Under the design stewardship of the practice multi-disciplinary design and planning team, the scheme was subject to a significant ‘facelift’ which was much needed to address some of the design challenges of the 2006 original planning consent. The revised scheme, subject to a section 73 planning application process allowed a number of key changes to not only the appearance of the scheme, but also the efficiency and commerciality of the project. The revised designs provide better living spaces for the 250 apartments; with improved quality of light and well considered landscaping around the individual blocks.
Once the planning challenges were tackled the Ingleton Wood, technical design team worked closely with a range of specialist supply chain partners to refine the designs further. This included LGS framing supplier Vision Built, who supplied the lightweight steel framing system, manufactured substantially off site to reduce construction time on site. The Ingleton Wood and Vision Built team worked collaboratively sharing a 3D BIM model of the project to make sure designs were well considered and buildable. The site-wide 3D REVIT model prepared by Ingleton Wood has been key to both construction discussions and continues to be used as we progress towards the design of the next phases of the development in talks with planners.
With the construction phase now well underway, Orbit has turned their attention to the sales phase of the project. The stunning sales suite was opened on Easter Bank Holiday weekend and features both a scaled model of the full development, but also a superb video flythrough of the scheme presented on a video wall. The flythrough really shows the quality of the scheme including the landscaped courtyards, but also the bright and light apartment interiors with high quality finishes.
The Practice continues to work on the next stages of the development, adding further value as we analyse each phase in detail with a view to making first rate apartments for new communities in central Norwich. With other recent commissions into the Norwich office, the multi-disciplinary team are now working on the construction phase of over 750 apartments in the Norwich city centre area, a testament to our resource, strength and capability.
Video copyright: Orbit www.orbit.org.uk