The brief for this project was to deliver 15 affordable apartments for Smethwick MBC which would achieve a level 4 standard of the Code for Sustainable Homes. The objective was to raise design standards for social housing in Sandwell as part of a wider regeneration programme for the area. This project was conceived as part of a programme to develop quality, mixed tenure social housing that is both sustainable and affordable.

The building adopts a simple architectural language which is derived from the internal spatial arrangements, where the elevations are articulated with the bay windows of the living spaces.

A range of different construction methods were used in this project. The ground and first floors are loadbearing masonry construction with bricks carefully selected to relate to the surrounding area and the second floor is a timber frame with rainscreen cladding in fibre cement panels. Bay windows are cantilevered from the pre-cast concrete floor and enclosed with a hybrid timber and aluminium structural glazing system.