Member Article

New homes at former school win coveted design award

A new homes development taking shape at the former La Sagesse school in Newcastle has become one of the first in the UK to win a coveted ‘Built for Life’ award for design excellence.

The accolade, given to David Wilson Homes North East, is a government-endorsed commendation for schemes that display good urban design principles.

It forms part of Building for Life 12, the industry standard for the design of new housing developments. There are 12 criteria addressing how to integrate a development into an existing community, how to create a sense of place and the details that make good streets and homes.

La Sagesse scored 12 ‘green lights’ to achieve the Built for Life quality mark.

David Wilson Homes North East is building 48 luxury houses and apartments on the site in Jesmond and Sales Director Fenton Hewitt said: “We’re delighted that La Sagesse has achieved this award.

“This is a superb location in one of the region’s most sought-after residential areas and we have taken great care to ensure that our development will blend into its surroundings.

“There will be a mix of new build and renovated apartments, townhouses, refurbished cottages and luxury detached houses. We believe they will be among the finest new homes on the North East market.

“Because of the complex nature of the demolition and building work, we do not expect to release any properties for sale until early 2015, but the scheme has attracted huge interest.

“More than 2,000 prospective purchasers have already registered their interest in buying a home there.”

The £20m development is recycling a disused brownfield site, which has stood vacant for some years, and is supporting around 100 jobs in construction and the supply chain.

Launching the Building for Life 12 website recently, Nick Boles MP, Planning Minister at the time, said: “Building for Life principles show the importance of good design in creating vibrant places and beautiful buildings and the benefits it can bring in making development acceptable to people living next door.

“They are an incredibly useful guide for all involved in development and bring big benefits for both builders and buyers.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Richard Savage .