Higgins Partnerships has completed the award-winning Wooddene Estate in Peckham, South London for Notting Hill Genesis.
Wooddene Estate was formerly a 1960s concrete built estate forming part of the Acorn Estate in Peckham. Higgins was appointed to the £70 million project to regenerate the area into a mixed tenure development with an on-site energy centre to serve the 333 new homes, including 54 social rented, 78 private sale and 201 shared ownership, as well provide new community facilities, retail space, landscaping and open green space with private and communal garden areas and a community pocket park.
Murray Maunder, Project Director for Higgins Partnerships commented: “We are extremely proud of the work that has been carried out at Wooddene Estate to deliver much needed affordable homes to the area. As well as building the new homes, it was important for us to deliver a project which would have a lasting legacy in terms of employment and wellbeing. We have provided apprenticeships, work placements and training opportunities for the local unemployed residents.
“It has also been really rewarding to engage and work with the local community supporting resident events, educational visits from the local nursery and primary schools and social events.”
A strong emphasis was placed on creating training and employment opportunities for the local community as part of the Wooddene Estate project, with 25% of the workforce from the local area along with job opportunities for 25 unemployed locals and providing six apprenticeships.
Working closely with the Tenants and Residents Association, Higgins also arranged regular events to engage and ensure everyone took ownership of where they lived and bought into the regeneration. A resident’s trip to Hasting seaside was sponsored by Higgins along with bingo events to target socially isolated people on the estate. The team also worked closely with local school hosting site safety visits, road safety events and construction-related visits to raise the profile of careers and opportunities within the industry.
Mark Walford, Senior Project Manager for Notting Hill Genesis added: “This has been a fantastic project to be involved in, with many of the rented homes being occupied by returning residents from the original estate, as well former residents of the nearby Aylesbury Estate, who are moving due to the regeneration of that area.”