Trent Basin, Nottingham
- Sectors
- Residential, Modular
- Status
- Completed
- Client
- Blueprint Regeneration Ltd
- Project Value
- £47m
- MMC System
- SIPs Timer Panel System & Light Gauge Steel Frame
Trent Basin will provide approx. 200 new homes incorporating a mixture of low-rise residential and 7-storey apartments, all of which shall be delivered to Future Homes standards using the selected MMC technology, with EPC rating of A and in accordance with the end clients carbon and energy targets.
The scheme lies at the eastern edge of Nottingham’s Waterside Regeneration Zone and was built in the 1930’s, following Nottingham’s promotion as a city of commerce at the centre of a national network of rivers and canals. The Basin was originally used for timber trade with large dockside buildings and lightweight prefabricated huts set around its dock edges.
The Trent Basin project aims to be an exemplary demonstration of a net-zero carbon housing development. Dice were appointed by Blueprint Regeneration Ltd to provide specialist engineering advice regarding MMC options, along with a materials study and appraisal of suitable sub-structure solutions. Our successful approach began by establishing a detailed brief from the end client, which was to develop a structural solution for the scheme, minimising operational and embodied carbon emissions in-line with both RIBA and LETI best practice guidance for 2030. Their aspirations were to achieve 300kg Co2/m2, compared with the current benchmark of 1,000kg Co2/m2 (70% reduction).
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Our Services
Using our vast experience in MMC projects we developed a bespoke Structural Comparison Matrix to transparently compare various framing options, assessing each option for embodied Co2. A range of sub-structure solutions were also interrogated which considered the structural loads imposed, capital costs, buildability, settlement performance, sustainability, and a range of ground constraints.
We also implemented a customised carbon calculator tool enabling us to undertake a preliminary assessment of the embodied carbon content of a typical 3-storey terraced house, a maisonette, and a 7-storey apartment block.
The preferred option for the low-rise houses was a locally sourced timber panel system, while a light-gauge steel frame and CLT floors was selected for the 7-storey apartments, with the ambition that all steelwork would be procured from secondary sources and no new steel would be fabricated. This innovative exercise was considered an achievement by the client and the structural solutions proposed were adopted.
Dice was also instructed to undertake the detailed structural design associated with RIBA work stage 03. This resulted in the management of numerous challenges encountered with developments on brownfield sites, whilst also balancing the specific technical requirements of the MMC home design.
The scheme was also intended to be a car free development, in-line with its sustainability credentials, hence the principal parking solution for the site is a centralised parking barn for 180 car parking spaces, which is also intended to be constructed using a volumetric/ MMC solution. Dice are responsible for onsite investigations and design requirements for the parking barn and the access/ egress control solution.