Brownfield Land Has Soul
You need a strong stomach, calm demeanour, vivid imagination, and an unwavering appetite for risk when looking to acquire and transform complex brownfield land that has long been overlooked. The risks and rewards are high and there are certainly easier ways to make a living.
When establishing Wavensmere Homes eight years ago, I set out to uncover sites with soul to reanimate – by taking inspiration from their unique historic character. If you get it right, it captivates the community and brings about the regeneration of the wider area. We look for derelict sites that our industry peers don’t have the finances, resources, or imagination to touch. Constrained land that many have regarded as unviable for residential development. Constructing attainable, rather than unaffordable, homes is our raison d’être.
Transformational brownfield developments require a workable land mass and density, which necessitates a partnership approach with councils and other key stakeholders. We use nationally acclaimed architects to reimagine vacant land that has often been the target of anti-social behaviour. While the industry at large is at loggerheads with local planning authorities and NIMBYs, our distinctiveness results in highly effective working relationships. We have proven that our new communities result in much better symbiotic relationships with existing neighbours.
Wavensmere Homes’ Brownfield Projects
Our first scheme was The Convent at Baddersley Clinton – a highly sensitive 19th-Century restoration within a designated conservation area. Beatrice Court on St John’s Street in Lichfield was the transformation of a vacant Grade II listed care home, celebrating features such the ships’ masts that had been used for the timbers. Crocketts Lane in Smethwick was our redevelopment of the old technical college that had been left vacant for over 10 years. Complex land assembly with four partners was required to enable us to deliver 178 much-needed new homes, which had a marked impact on the local housing market. The Forge on Bradford Street in Digbeth was our redevelopment of a former factory site to create 142 apartments. We then stepped out of the region for the first time to deliver Ghyll House Farm in West Sussex, which brought about the redevelopment of former stables.
The land assembly for our next project began five years ago and it remains one of the Midlands’ biggest live residential projects. The Florence Nightingale-designed Derby Royal Infirmary hospital had been vacant for 10 years before we set about reanimating the two landmark pepper pot buildings and Grade II listed Queen Victoria statue, while creating 125 houses and 800 apartments. The project value for the scheme currently stands at £175m and it has transformed Derby’s city living market. A 37-year-old who was born at the hospital relocated back from south London to buy his first home here. It’s stories like this that make brownfield development so fulfilling.
Our £106m Belgrave Village scheme in central Birmingham is delivering 174 houses and 238 apartments. This 12-acre site was previously the Joseph Chamberlain Sixth Form College and Birmingham Sports Centre, which had lain derelict for 20 years. The demand for city centre houses enabled us to secure 115 reservations on the launch day in 2022. With 230 construction professionals working on site, all 438 homes will be completed in spring 2025.
Our 58-acre Barrelman’s Point development, located on the Shotley Peninsula, in Ipswich, Suffolk has a unique military history to preserve and celebrate. This £130m project is bringing about the restoration and redevelopment of the former HMS Ganges Royal Naval Training Establishment. More than 160,000 Navy recruits passed through the gates, until its closure in June 1976. Alongside the construction of 303 houses and community amenities, we are restoring two listed structures, two scheduled ancient monuments, and three further heritage assets. A Grade II listed 142 ft symbolic mast that lies within the parade ground is the best-known landmark across the entire Shotley Peninsula and the catalogue of old photos and video footage has captured national attention.
Another project in the national spotlight is Derby’s historic Friar Gate Goods Yard – a prime 11.5-acre city centre site. The badly fire-damaged Victorian buildings were last occupied over 50 years ago. Our £75m plans to reanimate the two Grade II listed landmarks into over 110,000 sq ft of commercial space, alongside 276 new homes, were approved at the planning committee in April 2024.
The vacant site of a demolished 1960s police station is another within Derby city centre where we plan to deliver 195 well-specified homes. Cathedral One will occupy one of the final plots of development land within the city’s newly revitalised Cathedral Quarter. While in Cheltenham town centre, the North Place surface car park is another prime site where our plans to deliver 153 much-needed houses and apartments are currently being considered.
Wavensmere Homes at UKREiiF
The project we expect to speak about the most at UKREiiF is Wolverhampton Canalside South. In 2023, the City of Wolverhampton Council and Canal & River Trust selected Wavensmere Homes as the preferred developer to take this 17-acre waterside site forwards – one of the largest city centre residential development opportunities in the Midlands. We are producing detailed plans for a £150m mixed-use scheme which will ignite a new wave of city living.
We want to be known nationally for residential-led brownfield transformations, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it results in the most vibrant and distinctive new communities.
Networking Lunch: Embracing Complexity to Unlock Brownfield Land
Tuesday 21 May, 12:45 pm – 2:00 pm
Session content begins at 1:00 pm
West Midlands Pavilion
Pavilion Zone #20/21 at UKREiiF
You can hear more from James Dickens during the networking lunch we will be holding at the West Midlands Pavilion on Tuesday 21st May. He will give an insightful presentation on how heavily constrained derelict sites are finally being transformed into sustainable new communities.
The completed Crocketts Lane development in Smethwick, Belgrave Village, which is under construction in central Birmingham, and the firm’s £150m plans for Wolverhampton Canalside South will be showcased.
Take a look at…
The West Midlands Pavilion at UKREiiF will connect public and private-sector decision-makers to highlight investment opportunities in the region.
West Midlands at UKREiiF
Event