Harford Street, London

Client: Bellway Homes
Type of works: £6,215,000 of timber frame specified for 532 properties.

Harford Street in Stepney, London, is one of the largest sites constructed by Bellway Homes and the largest to be built in a single phase.  The site is an old oil refinery with clearing and remediation of the land requiring a vast amount of strategic planning, and over six months to complete. 

Bellway has been working on the project for almost 10 years, while Stewart Milne Timber Systems has been involved in partnership for the last eight years, helping ensure that the design was suitable for a cost-effective timber-frame solution.

East Thames Housing Association has bought the majority of the accommodation with the rest being purchased by NewLon Housing Trust, leaving no units for private sale. However there will be units available for purchase through shared ownership schemes. The total value of the timber frame for this site is £6,215,000, thought to be the largest for any one site. 

All the blocks are pre-sold, and an intensive build-programme saw all 532 units being fully erected in just over 12 months. This has required a huge amount of logistical planning, not least to ensure that the site is able to cope with up to 12 deliveries a week, each a fully-loaded articulated lorry's worth, which was required during the most concentrated part of the programme. First completions took place in 2007.