Building firm Graham has secured the contract to build 500 new homes at Wirral Waters in a £130m project with work due to start in weeks. Tony McDonough reports
Wirral Waters owner Peel L&P has appointed construction firm Graham to deliver 500 new apartments at the Birkenhead regeneration site in a £130m project.
Wirral Waters One, which is being funded by institutional investor Pension Insurance Corporation, will be the biggest single development at Wirral Waters so far. It will include 500 one and two-bedroom apartments.
Peel L&P says work will begin on site in the spring. They say the scheme has been designed with “sustainability at its core”, utilising a range of energy efficient and low carbon technologies to reduce carbon emissions.
The new homes have also been designed to be resource efficient by reducing water and energy consumption, prioritising natural lighting, reducing wastage and using sustainable, energy efficient heating.
Peel L&P’s Wirral Waters is one of the largest regeneration projects in the UK. Worth more than £5bn over 30 years the scheme has already seen the completion of an office building for The Contact Company, a campus for Wirral Met College and a 25,000 sq ft speculative office building to provide space for SMEs.
This year will also see the completion of a number of factory-built homes at East Float, in a partnership between Peel L&P and Urban Splash. Scheduled to be ready for occupation in the spring, the Row House and Town House collection will comprise 30 homes built at a factory in the East Midlands.
100 affordable new homes will also be included in the development. This means rents on those units will be a maximum of 80% of open market value. There will also be landscaping and tree planting with parks, green spaces, dockside walkways and cycle routes. It will also offer cycling storage and electric vehicle charging points.
Richard Mawdsley, director of development for Wirral Waters at Peel L&P, said: “Our appointment of Graham is a major step forward to seeing more cranes and delivery activity at Wirral Waters.
“Graham is a leading construction business with excellent social value credentials. Working together, Peel L&P and Graham will also ensure that we bring more fantastic opportunities for the construction students at Wirral Met College throughout the 2.5 year build period of this game changing project.”
Wirral Waters One will be the catalyst for a number of waterside residential schemes due to be built in the new Northbank neighbourhood including the Belong Care Village, which is also due on site in spring 2022.
Peter Reavey, regional director for Graham’s building division, added: “At Graham, our focus is on ‘delivering lasting impact’, and this scheme, which includes 500 apartments, of which 100 are affordable new homes, will allow us to continue this proud tradition of constructing homes in the heart of the local communities where we operate.
“We have established a strong presence in the Merseyside region, and I look forward to continuing to work with the experienced local supply chain, as well as providing further opportunities for local students and young people to develop meaningful careers in the construction industry.”
Local suppliers and trades people interested in working on the project are encouraged to engage with the Wirral Chamber of Commerce Property and Construction Forum – created by Wirral Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Peel L&P, and Morgan Sindall.