Exceptional consideration shown on Deeley Construction’s Fordham House project

A new development of 82 apartments in historic Stratford-upon-Avon has been praised by the Scheme for its exceptionally considerate approach.

Fordham House is a new development of 82 private rental apartments in a prime location at the heart of Stratford-upon-Avon. With close proximity to the hospital and town centre, initial preference will be given to local key workers, such as health and emergency service workers and teachers, as well as local people.

The £6.9 million development is being brought to market through a partnership between Stratford Town Trust, Orbit, ABD Developments and Robothams Architects. Deeley Construction is the design and build contractor.

The work involved the demolition of the Warwick House building at the corner of Birmingham Road and Clopton Road, to make way for the brand new building.

One of the main challenges for Deeley Construction has been ensuring the site is kept clean, presentable and traffic-friendly, in keeping with its high profile Stratford-upon-Avon location – a tourist magnet.

Senior Site Manager Richard Pepper said:

“The project is in the town centre of Shakespeare’s place of birth and in 2016, The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust stated that it received 825,000 visitors to the town. Prior to the development, we worked closely with the Stratford Town Trust to bring a scheme that would not be a blot on the historic landscape; this included installing a ‘living wall’ on two of the three-storey elevations.

“The site is adjacent to a busy four-way junction at the centre of Stratford, so we ensured that deliveries were able to pull directly onto site, minimising traffic jams.”

You can read about just a few of Deeley Construction Ltd’s examples of best practice to comply with the Considerate Constructors Scheme by clicking on the sliders below:

  • The project received praise for its appearance anonymously via the local newspaper (the Stratford Herald). We were delighted with the feedback and shared this via social media, and of course with the site team.
  • Liaison with St Gregory’s Primary School – this has included a site visit by the class to carry out an Ivor Goodsite ‘Hunt the Hazard!’ game.
  • Presentation to the entire school – Business Development Coordinator, Edward Hudson, gave a presentation focused on the roles in construction to help address the ‘image of construction’ from an early age, and to encourage new workers into the industry. To keep the pupils entertained the team also included a drone video of Warwick House prior to its demolition.
  • Feedback – we requested community feedback prior to Christmas 2016 and offered all participants the chance to win a £25 voucher to be spent at a local Marks and Spencer store for a Christmas shop.
  • Competition – we held a competition for the public where the participants were required to guess the number of bricks and blocks that it would take to construct Fordham House (close to 250,000). St Gregory’s Primary School was given a sneak idea of the number of blocks at the October 2016 assembly talk. We were pleased that a pupil at the school remembered and won the competition!
  • Promotion of local business – we focused on promoting local businesses free of charge on our hoarding on a regular basis. 
  • Recycling of material – crushed material from Warwick House (the former building on the site) was reused as hardcore on one of our adjacent sites and 1490 tonnes of crushed stone was spread at a local former quarry (to bring the land back into use).
  • Donation – pallets from deliveries were given to a local resident to be used with the local MIND charity for a ‘creation’ exercise.
  • Employment – the project team promoted work experience placements to our subcontractors to assist Orbit Homes with unemployed tenants on their waiting lists. Wendy, the site cleaner, will be retained for future employment on completion of the development.
  • Apprentices – the scaffolding subcontractor has taken on an apprentice from a disadvantaged group. Additionally the bricklaying apprentice is local and has obtained his motorbike licence through this employment.
  • Promotion of the construction industry – in conjunction with the NFB, we visited Stratford-upon-Avon College to promote the construction industry. We provided a 3D BIM goggles which allowed students to take a virtual tour.

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The Best Practice Hub is provided by the Considerate Constructors Scheme