Sutton Estate: Join us on NLA’s study tour

Join us on NLA’s study tour of the retrofit of Chelsea’s 100-year-old Sutton Estate, one of the country’s oldest purpose-built social housing estates.

The tour will take place on Wednesday 28th October, from 8.30am – 10am. 

Find out more and register here.

Our structural and civil engineers worked closely with HTA and Durkan for Clarion Housing Group, on the project to regenerate four historic residential blocks to deliver 81 high-quality, social-rented homes that offer improved accessibility, wellbeing and comfort and more sustainable living.

The tour will explore how together our sustainable urban drainage strategy, central community garden and landscaped areas have improved climate resilience, accessibility and social connection. 

Tour leads Rhys Williams, associate director here at Civic, and Caroline Dove, partner at HTA Design, will share the story of community engagement, design and delivery behind the award-winning example of urban regeneration and estate renewal. 

They’ll share the approaches that are readily transferable to other housing estates, particularly those facing combined challenges of ageing housing stock, climate resilience and the need to improve health and wellbeing.   

Key resilience highlights of the project include:

• Reconfiguring the original studios to create a mix of 1, 2, 3 and 4-bedroom homes, including eight fully accessible ground-floor flats for wheelchair users
• The installation of lifts in every block to ensure full access to upper floors.
• New balconies which provide outdoor space, while a central landscaped community garden encourages social connection and access to nature
• Well-designed communal green spaces, which feature raingardens, forming part of the estate-wide SuDS strategy

We're longstanding supporters of NLA's industry-leading research and activity. Stephen O'Malley is member of NLA's Sounding Board, Gareth Atkinson chairs the Net Zero Expert Panel and Leah Stuart is part of the Transport and Infrastructure Expert Panel, which you can find out more on here.

We hope to see you on the tour!