Cardiff Council and Wates Residential have started construction on the largest development in the Cardiff Living scheme, which will deliver 214 new properties
The development has been awarded £4.1m of Welsh Government Innovative Housing Programme (IHP) funding.
The scheme will take energy performance standards to a new level as all of the homes will incorporate renewable technologies and smart energy management systems to significantly reduce the energy demand on the grid, as well as helping to tackle fuel poverty by significantly reducing energy bills.
The site will include 65 new council homes, 44 of which will be Community Living flats for older people and 21 two and three-bedroom houses.
A further 149 properties will be for sale on the open market and both council and sale housing will be built to the same energy performance standards.
The Community Living scheme called Addison House will be a state-of-the-art building designed to meet the needs of older people and will be the first of four new similar facilities to be built across the city as part of Cardiff Council’s Older Person’s Strategy.
The facility will consist of one and two bedroom flats, comprising open plan living, private balconies, dual aspect design, which are flexible enough to cater for residents’ changing needs.
The building will also have two residents’ lounges, a roof terrace overlooking the Bristol Channel as well as a large communal courtyard garden.
Work is expected to be completed in phased over the coming three years.
‘Our largest development site yet’
Ed Rees, regional director for Wates Residential, said: “These new homes have been designed with local people in mind and offer an exemplar for high quality, sustainable living that will lead the way in the implementation of energy-efficient housing for Wales.
“We believe that everyone deserves a great place to live and, by harnessing innovative construction methods and carbon saving technologies that learn from people’s energy use habits to reduce energy bills, we hope that these new homes will continue to bring positive benefits to the local community for many generations to come.”
The Council and Wates Residential are working with Cardiff-based sustainable energy services company, Sero to incorporate low carbon technologies into the development of all the new homes including ground source heat pumps, smart thermal storage, electric vehicle charging points, solar panels and smart controls for residents.
Sero will provide an innovative grid energy control network that will intelligently draw, discharge and anticipate energy demands, almost completely avoiding the National Grid at peak times.
