BREEAM Outstanding rating for £17m scheme

APARTMENT blocks refubished in a £17m scheme – Tribe New Islington, Tribe Ancoats and Tribe East Quarter in Ancoats, Manchester – have been accredited with a BREEAM Outstanding rating.

Designed by national architects Pozzoni, the 13-storey apartment blocks, have been recognised for their sustainable features that aim to minimise the development’s carbon footprint and create energy savings for tenants by utilising sustainable and renewable fuels.

A number of sustainability measures were put in place throughout the refurbishment including triple glazed windows and high standard thermal insulation was used on the roofs and in the buildings’ overcladding. The apartments also benefit from 400kw biomass boilers installed in new energy centres constructed at each block.

Each apartment is connected to a wet central heating system, providing a more efficient heat source than electric panel heaters which are common in many new apartment schemes.

Thanks to this system as well as the biomass boiler, occupiers at the three tower blocks, collectively known as Tribe apartments, typically benefit from energy prices that are half those of electricity users.

Over its lifetime, sustainable project will offer a saving of approximately 28,000 tonnes of carbon.

The high profile regeneration project received a £7.9m build to rent loan from the Homes and Communities Agency, the first loan of its kind to be approved in the country.

Andrew Smith, project lead and technical director at Pozzoni said: “Before the refurbishment, the tower blocks had been empty since 1994 so needed extensive modernisation to make them more sustainable, suitable for residents and ultimately to substantially reduce carbon emissions.

“We are thrilled to have achieved BREEAM outstanding status on this project as it demonstrates our commitment to meeting our environmental objectives to deliver sustainable architecture.”

A spokesperson for Tribe Apartments, said: “Tribe was the first bespoke single block ownership scheme to complete in the North West and has been a great success in terms of regeneration, design, occupier satisfaction and financial performance.”

The £17m scheme, which has created 192 new private rented sector homes in the city, was the result of a partnership between Manchester City Council, Ancoats Residential Holdings and Rowlinson Constructions.