CASE STUDIES
Housing Association Work
The Orwell Project Management team has provided project management services to other Housing Associations in the East of England region for fifteen years. Providing new business, project management and programme management services, the team have been involved in the delivery of 1000’s of new homes across the region.
We like to work closely with our partners, aiming to tailor the service to the organisation’s individual needs and making our team an extension of our partner’s in-house teams by;
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Providing bespoke reports in formats required by organisations
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Offering project management tools
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Liaison with property services and housing management colleagues throughout the life of the project
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Working with partners to develop design and specification guides.
Local Authority Work
With the recent increase in the number of Local Authorities building again, Orwell has provided services to several Local Authorities in East Anglia to help turn their aspirations into new homes. Working strategically closely with our local authority partners in our capacity as a local affordable landlord, we have an insight into and appreciation of their priorities, approaches and expectations. We have been able to build on this background to provide flexible development services that meet individual authority’s requirements.
We have also been able to provide a way for Local Authorities to access affordable housing grant from Homes England, by leading one of the few development Consortium’s in the region to have Local Authority Partners.
We have helped deliver homes with Ipswich Borough Council and Waveney District Council, and are currently working on schemes for East Suffolk District Council and Great Yarmouth Borough Council.
Equinox
Orwell Project Management is working on behalf of Equinox Enterprises Ltd. on the first 56 unit phase of the East Wood development at Gorleston-on-Sea. Orwell Project Management will use their extensive project management skills to oversee the scheme for the duration of the contract in order to achieve the delivery of much needed homes in this area. Orwell were also involved in the masterplanning of the East Wood development and were successful in achieving outline planning permission for 287 new homes as well as achieving detailed planning for the first phase of 56.
Orwell’s Chief Executive, Wendy Evans-Hendrick, comments: “We are delighted to be providing project management services to Equinox Enterprises on such an important site for both the company and Great Yarmouth Borough. It is extremely rewarding to be able to use our project management expertise to help bring this project to fruition.”
Charities (Seckford Trust)
Orwell Project Management were approached by the Seckford Foundation in 2016 to assist them with the planning and the delivering of internal refurbishment works at The Terrace, Seckford Almshouses. A Grade II Listed building, iconic within the historic, market town of Woodbridge, which has been providing accommodation for local, older people since the 16th century.
OPM worked closely with the trust to understand and achieve their own ambition, whilst including the residents within the process and decision making, ensuring that the changes within their home would not only benefit them now but also accommodate their future needs.
The project completed successfully in April 2018.
Extra Care Housing & Sheltered Schemes
We are the largest provider of extra care housing for older people in Suffolk. Over the last 15 years we have built, or extended, six extra care housing schemes, for both ourselves and other clients, totaling over £20,000,000.
Our extensive project management skills in this specialist area help us to work closely with local authorities, parish councils and all other relevant stakeholders to make the development a success. We pride ourselves in the attention to detail that this type of housing product requires.
Pitches View
Pitches View is situated in the secluded historic village of Reydon, one mile north-west of Southwold, Suffolk. Built in 2003, Pitches View consists of 32 self-contained one and two bedroom apartments over two floors. All are large enough for two people. Each apartment benefits from having its own front door, bedroom, lounge, fully fitted kitchen and a level-based wet room including a WC. Each apartment is fully accessible for wheelchair users.
Dove Close
The homes at Dove Close, Capel St Mary provided the unique opportunity for people over 55 years to purchase their own home whilst benefiting from the benefit of an active on site community. The development consisted of 32 properties; 19 of which were apartments and 13 bungalows. The site included extensive archaeology works and included the retention of a medieval well.
Deben View
Deben View is located in close proximity to the picturesque River Deben in Woodbridge. 32 very sheltered properties were completed in 2002.
Almshouses
Over the last ten years the team has worked on the refurbishment of five Suffolk Almshouses, located in Boyton, Framlingham, Thorpeness, Eye and Woodbridge.
These important buildings, rich with heritage and architectural value, were brought up to date ensuring that their historical value was retained and that they were able to continue to provide comfortable homes.
Most were Grade Two listed buildings, and the team worked closely with Conservation Officers and Charity Trustees to ensure sympathetic refurbishments.
Orwell Housing Association also manages four of the Almshouses on behalf of the owning charities.
New Build Housing
Orwell’s team has been developing new homes in East Anglia for a significant time and has a settled and strong team with a good reputation and is well respected in the local construction industry.
As such we have good working relationships with local architects, consultants, engineers, contractors and across the construction sector generally specifically in Suffolk. Orwell are able to undertake architects feasibilities and some up-front work done ‘at-risk’ where there is no cost to Orwell or its partners.
We have experience of a range of new build projects ranging from inner city areas to more remote isolated rural areas and in scale from one-off single dwellings to larger estates.
Refurbishment
Orwell have tackled and successfully refurbished a range of different buildings to bring them back into use as housing. These projects have ranged in scale and complexity from small one-off property conversions to larger flatted refurbishments. This has included former commercial buildings in historic town centres to stand alone individual properties in rural parts of East Anglia.
Between 2015-2018 Orwell successfully completed an empty homes programme. Using Government funding Orwell, working with its Local Authority partners and property owners identified over 30 empty properties across Suffolk and Norfolk and refurbished them to bring them back into use as affordable housing. Our team are therefore experienced with the challenges and difficulties of working within the confines of existing building conditions and bringing them up to modern standards as well as working with private landlords and entering into lease arrangements via Orwell Housing Association.
One such property was at Richmond Rd Ipswich. This is Victorian 2 bedroom terrace that is owned by East of England Co-op. This was refurbished with new kitchen/bathroom and redecorated as part of the empty homes programme. This property is now leased from the East of England Co-op to Orwell.
"We have worked in collaboration with Orwell's development team over a number of years and on a variety of projects. The team are open to new ideas, flexible in their approach and really do want to make a difference to housing needs in this area: this is why we work with them."
Nick Denny FRICS,
Joint Chief Executive, East of England Co-op
Community buildings and / or engagement
Orwell has a long history of working on projects that involve wider collaborative working. Our team have been involved on a number of highly complex strategic sites that require brokering and partnership skills to bring all the parties together with a common purpose. We are experienced in undertaking Local consultation events as part of our pre-planning process and we would work with clients to agree a communication strategy for each site.
We are well rehearsed in working with partners at a local and regional level as well as the wider community. Our team frequently hold local meetings on sensitive sites this can often help diffuse some of the objections which can lead to successfully securing planning consent.
