Urban Sensation
From 14 Acres of Dereliction and Urban Decay to an Urban Sensation
Needlers had been an institution in the city of Hull for nearly a century making sweets that were loved throughout the world, but unfortunately times had moved on and their previous grand headquarters and factory operation in the Sculcoates area of Hull was now a rather sad reminder of past glory and the operation closed at the beginning of 2004. Kingston upon Hull City Council, owners of the adjacent and already cleared site of the former Hull CEGB power station site feared that the area would take a further turn for the worst.
The road networks surrounding the area no longer suited industrial use and it was deemed unlikely that new business and employment could be attracted to the sites. Indeed the former power station site had been marketed by the Council for a long period and had attracted no interest. So fresh ideas were needed if the spiral of decline was to be halted.
The site came to the attention of Horncastle and T Wright Holdings and it was decided to investigate a possible residential redevelopment on the land.
Negotiations commenced with the owners of the Needlers site based in Singapore who too were concerned about the site and the dangerous nature of the buildings and of the high costs that would be associated with clearance and decontamination. An agreement was reached to acquire the site, subject to achieving a planning approval for a change of use to residential for both the former sweet factory and power station site.
In order to carry out the development, it was decided that a joint venture company be established to be owned equally by Horncastle and Wrights and so Centre Renewals Limited was born.
The land acquisition was complicated being a brown field site, the area had been the subject of various CPO’s and there were title issues to resolve, along side other constraints to development arising from the network of cables still in use by the local statutory undertaker and with various large underground structures. The design layout for the site had to take in these many constraints and come up with ideas how to also incorporate the watercourse that divided the two parcels of land that made up the site.
The design scheme was approved granting consent for one hundred and seventy new homes. A key consideration for was the architecture; from the outset it was clear that typical sub urban designs would not work in this very urban of urban locations. Whilst taking a risk it was decided the best course was to be bold and to go for a highly contemporary style using a mix of external finishes more often seen on commercial projects and those seen on inner city apartment developments.
A computer model was produced to simulate the proposed design appearance and this was used both in promoting the design idea to the local people, to the Planning Officers and local Councillors and then subsequently in the sales and marketing of the site. To bring in the water course and create connectivity two bridges were included and approved following detailed negotiation with the Environment Agency.
It was also decided to use latest touch screen technology in an ultra modern show office and an agreement was reached to partner with IKEA, using their contemporary furniture within the properties and to offer purchasers discount vouchers to spend at the local IKEA warehouse to follow the modern exterior and interior styles.
Within the joint venture it was decided to split roles - Horncastle undertook the site acquisition, the site demolition and clearance operation, dealing with the design and planning and to construct all the civil works and infrastructure and house bases up to DPC. Wrights then moved in and built the houses above within their subsidiary Wright Homes Limited. Horncastle then dealt with all the pre sales with Wrights finishing the properties to NHBC standard and handing them over and dealing with after sales.
The first phase was completed by early 2008, this comprised 69 of the new homes. At that stage the Horncastle interest was purchased by Wrights and what was a very successful joint venture for both companies was brought to an end.
The development set the scene and marked a beginning for large scale residential regeneration within the city of Hull and Horncastle are extremely proud of the result and what has been achieved which has given a major lift to not just the sites but also to the surrounding Sculcoates area within the City of Hull.
