The brief
Habinteg Housing Association is a registered social housing provider with over 50 years’ experience building and promoting accessible homes and communities. As a social landlord, Habinteg owns and manages more than 3,300 homes across more than 80 English local authorities.
Habinteg’s mission is to create accessible homes and communities that welcome and include, everyone by using thoughtful, high quality urban design to deliver new housing with minimum disruption to the surrounding existing neighbourhoods.
The design approach for South Street has been guided by Habinteg. The key principles of the project were:
- Optimise the amount of residential accommodation.
- Offer a mix of living options, including two wheelchair-accessible homes.
- Achieve practical, well-proportioned, high-quality dwellings.
- Protect the privacy and amenity of near neighbours.
- Create a development with a distinct character and sense of place.
The site
South Street has a suburban town setting and is located a short walk from the River Thames and about a mile from Isleworth Railway Station, which offers regular services to central London.
The site was formerly home to a block of garages. Habinteg purchased the block, with the aim of developing 12 accessible flats.
The new development
The development is a modern brick construction surrounded by landscaped areas with newly bedded plants and trees, designed by Levitt Bernstein Architects.
It is a ‘fabric first’ construction that prioritised energy efficiency at the start of the design and development process to minimise heat loss. The pitched roof building also has air source heat pumps and triple glazing.
It boasts a residents’ bicycle and waste storage shed, and landscaped areas with new trees and planting. It also has an on-site forecourt with two designated parking spaces.
Matthew Kelly, Head of Development at Habinteg, said: “It’s fantastic to see these challenging small sites with unused garages provide accessible accommodation to the people that need it most.”
Energy-efficient accessible solution
The wheelchair housing designs enable occupants to independently access and use all rooms and facilities of the property.
Since some wheelchair users will have specific housing requirements, the properties are designed to offer an accessible, flexible standard that can be tailored to individuals’ needs through simple, low cost, adjustments and specific adaptations.
The development has been built with energy efficiency and long-term sustainability in mind to ensure lower living costs for all residents. The block also benefits from triple glazing and air source heat pumps.
The block has 10 M4(2) accessible and adaptable homes providing:
- Suitable door widths to facilitate wheelchair use.
- Ply-lined bathrooms to support future installation of grab rails.
- Drainage installed to the main bathroom to allow for future level-access shower installation.
- Switches, sockets and other controls in locations that are accessible to someone
- with reduced reach.
The two M4(3) homes include:
- A fully wheelchair accessible kitchen with adjustable sections of worktop for sink, hob and a side-opening oven.
- A fully wheelchair accessible bathroom with a level access shower and accessible wash-hand basins.
- Low-level windows to the principal living areas to ensure views of the outside.
- All the features of M4(2) homes.
Wheelchair user Adan Yusuf moved into a one-bedroom wheelchair accessible home at the development, and he is over the moon with his new home.
He said: “I’ve been waiting for this type of accommodation since 2021. Words aren’t enough to describe my happiness about my new home. Everything is accessible to me and easy to manage, from the front door and bedroom to the toilet and kitchen. I have enough space to move around freely.”
Shining example
Cllr Tom Bruce, Deputy Leader of Hounslow Council and Cabinet Member for Assets, Regeneration and Development, said: “It’s a shining example of how strategic partnerships and sustainable design can create accessible, energy-efficient homes for our community.
“This project not only transforms underused land into valuable housing but also reinforces our commitment to inclusivity and environmental responsibility, making significant strides towards meeting the housing needs of our residents.”