Zero and low carbon development

Rowlinson has handed over 69 homes to Manchester City Council marking the completion of the Silk Street development, redefining the standard for social housing in Manchester.

Unlocking a former long-term brownfield site, the development offers a range of types and tenures, delivering sustainable housing solutions aligned to where need is greatest.

There is a mix of 21 three and four-bedroom zero carbon houses, and 48 one and two-bedroom very low carbon apartments.

A third of the apartments are available to people over the age of 55, featuring a larger internal footprint designed to HAPPI standards.

Each of the homes are available for social rent and come with a range of sustainable measures that are both planet and pocket friendly.

David Chilton, managing director, Rowlinson said: “New-build homes that are high quality, sustainable and affordable are hard to come by in the social rent sector. Silk Street tackles this head on and is a significant shift towards delivering social homes that are fit for the future and able to meet the demands of modern life.”

MCAU architects designed the development with a welcoming outward-facing development that re-connects the local district centre and the canal.

With exacting environmental requirements, and an enhanced specification to deliver tangible sustainability benefits, the build includes:

• a fabric-first approach with low air leakage rates
• off-site manufacture of an innovative lightweight steel building frame (apartments) and a timber frame panel system using timber from sustainable sources (houses) site
• all the houses are fully electric benefitting from solar panels, heating and hot water provided by ground source heating loop with mechanical heat recovery and individual electric car charging
• hot water storage provided by a highly insulated hot water cylinder linked to the ground source heat pump system with an electric emersion heater back-up provided to boost supply of hot water during periods of high demand.
• sustainable drainage systems with oversized drainage pipes providing surface water attenuation and permeable tarmac to housing driveways and, for the apartments, underground surface water attenuation tanks collecting all surface water run-off from roofs, car parks and hard landscaped areas
• every apartment features a balcony and a number also have a dual aspect layout
• green roofs and green walls across the site

Over the lifetime of the development, overall carbon emissions will continue to reduce – so, as the electricity grid decarbonizes, so too will this exemplar development.

Date published: 15/11/2023