Fairhurst were appointed for the provision of 153 new homes on the old Arla Dairy site in Smisby Road, providing a range of two, three, four and five-bedroom houses.
The development is positioned around a new open space in the centre of the plot – with some homes having a wide view across the surrounding countryside and a network of footpaths, a public park for residents, and other areas of shared public space have all been incorporated to “enhance the sense of community at this new development.”
Fairhurst provided full civil and structural engineering services for the development, including works associated with diversion of a water course, and provision of a bridge.Structurally the houses have a mixture of foundations, with piling and traditional strips. Detailed tree influence drawings were produced to zone the foundations and minimise piling as far as possible.A large cut and fill exercise was undertaken to achieve the required levels in relation to flooding as well levels to co-ordinate with external highway levels, the diverted watercourse and associated bridge. This was iterated to ensure optimised and minimise retaining structure, and not create issues with foundations and drainage strategies.The required water course diversion involved detailed consultation and permits with the EA, and certified inspections were also carried out to sign off the bridge structure.The drainage was a combination of private and adoptable, and incorporated several Suds features such as geocellular attenuation and permeable pavements, as well as oversized culverted pipes to reduce attenuation requirements.
