St Cuthbert’s Drive, Gateshead

"Your contribution has helped us to meet the Gateshead Housing Company’s goals for St Cuthbert’s Drive. The work you have done has helped us understand better our non traditional housing stock and how we can improve it"

Paul Proud
Director of Property & Technical Services

Nature of Work Undertaken

Michael Dyson Associates Ltd had previously been appointed by Gateshead Housing Company as consultants for a pilot scheme to ascertain the best repair option for these properties. Following completion of the pilot process, we were further appointed as the sole consultant for the main scheme to repair the remaining 43 homes.

Initially the properties were earmarked for demolition due to the state of structural disrepair and the difficulty of refurbishing non traditionally built homes. However Michael Dyson Associates Ltd came up with a proposed solution of repairing the existing structure by inserting new load bearing blockwork, transferring the load from the existing columns to the new blockwork. This enabled Gateshead Housing Company to offer alternative solutions to the residents with work being carried out with them insitu.

The estate also included garages which had been heavily vandalised and in extreme disrepair, whilst the neighbouring houses had been razed to the ground in a fire previously. The contractor, Dunelm Property Services, demolished and cleared the site to make way for the construction of 3 new build properties as well as providing space for the development of a new community area. The three homes were built to Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4 – with reduced energy consumption by installation of photovoltaic cells on the roof, high-efficiency heating systems and a disabled shower room installed on the ground floor.

Services Provided

• Architectural Design - Repair Solution
• Contract Administration
• Contractor Procurement
• Resident Consultation – Design Workshops
• CDM Co-ordinator

Value of Contract

£2,078,505