Beever Road is a housing development in Tipton with 10 bungalows and 8 apartments. There is a mixture of adaptable and wheelchair-accessible units across the site.
The development has been designed by UDBS and is being managed on site with UDBS as contract administrator, architect, structural engineer, and landscape architect. SMBC’s Housing Partnership team, under Regeneration & Growth, is delivering the project to support the council’s need for additional social housing.
Historically, the site houses some prefabricated postwar dwellings, which were then demolished and made way for allotments. Following this, the site was an underutilised grassed area that was prone to fly tipping and anti-social behaviour.
As with several sites in Sandwell, the ground conditions and location of existing constraints have proven particularly challenging at Beever Road. As an example, there are mineshafts, existing watercourses, and contaminated ground that required careful consideration as part of the design development.
The project has been collaboratively developed with a very experienced project team to ensure the provision covers both the needs of residents waiting for housing and those of the local area. In addition to this, the project has been designed with care for the existing setting, providing wildlife habitat areas, open swales, and ‘protected’ pedestrian footpaths to allow safe pedestrian movement around the newly formed street, with attractive planting for both visual pleasure and habitat creation. The project is currently being built on site by J. Harper and Sons Ltd. and is being funded through both the HRA budget and grant funding provided by Homes England.
The project is due to be completed in the winter of 2024.
