Member Article

100 New Apartments Approved For Wolverhampton City Centre

A major new residential development which will see 100 new apartments built in Wolverhampton has been approved following a successful application by specialist urban planning consultancy, Hybrid Planning & Development.

An underutilised brownfield site on the corner of Dudley Road and Bell Place on the southern edge of the city centre will be revitalised with a landmark new building and improved public realm. Comprising 100 one and two bedroom apartments, the new scheme is being developed by M&E Group and also includes a 230m² office space, basement car parking for every apartment, cycle parking, communal rooftop gardens and associated landscaping.

Aaron Henecke, senior planner at Hybrid Planning & Development said: “We’re very excited to help bring forward this prominent and underused site for significant residential-led regeneration in the city centre. Working closely with the Council and wider project team, we’ve been able to devise a distinctive scheme that will reinvigorate the streetscape and provide greater housing choice for the city’s young professionals and growing families. Securing approval under delegated powers with no objections shows just how much local support there is for this development and we look forward to seeing construction begin soon.”

The approved Dudley Road development was designed by East London-based architectural practice, Ackroyd Lowrie and features a part two/part five storey building. “Our design for Dudley Road is focused on providing a visually distinctive building that is suitable for modern living,” explains director, Oliver Lowrie. “Taking inspiration from the neighbourhood, which has a predominantly industrial heritage, we’ve created a scheme of varied height and massing to both respond and connect to surrounding buildings. The material palette features characterful dark and light grey brickwork, red zinc cladding along with feature detailing such as balustrading.

“Internally, the apartments follow a flexible, open plan layout and the majority are dual aspect so will benefit from plenty of natural light. In addition, each home has its own private outdoor space in the form of a garden, balcony or roof terrace,” concluded Oliver.

Consideration has also been given to Dudley Road’s environmental impact and a fabric first approach will be adopted throughout construction. The development will include high-efficiency LED lighting throughout and rooftop solar PV panels, which are expected to help the scheme achieve a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of at least 10%.

Hardeep Singh, director, M&E Group concluded: “We’re excited to bring forward this major new development for Wolverhampton, which will be just a ten-minute walk from the thriving city centre. We believe the mix of apartments will have widespread local appeal and are delighted the Council have echoed this viewpoint by granting planning permission.”

Work at Dudley Road is anticipated to begin in summer on an 18 month build programme.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Natalie Keene .