Location: Basingstoke, Hampshire
Client: C&G Properties / Amiri Construction
RIBA Plan of Work stages: 0-7
Wella House was a vacant four-storey office block, built in the 1970s to house the Wella Company, and is located within a light industrial area to the south-west of Basingstoke town centre. To the east is Horwood Gardens, a large parkland, which separates the site from extensive residential developments. The wider site includes two ancillary buildings, both former offices unsuitable for re-use, and parking.
PWP Architects was engaged by the client to provide a total of 133 apartments across a phased development of the site, achieved through the conversion of the main office building and new-build accommodation on the site of its ancillary buildings.
The project delivered a mixture of tenures; the conversion of Wella House provides a mix of one- and two-bed apartments ideal for first-time buyers, whereas the new build Park Heights was delivered entirely as social housing (a mixture of shared ownership and rented accommodation). Large, glazed elements ensure that new apartments deliver excellent quality daylight, backed by a BRE daylight assessment and all new apartments feature MVHR and innovative electric combination boilers. The architecture reflects the industrial and rectilinear language found within the surrounding context, utilising industrial materials in a considered way to provide high quality social and market housing.
