Landmark retirement village is taking shape – and we’re moving faster than expected!
It’s amazing what a bit of mild weather and a dedicated team can do.
The £20 million retirement community we’re delivering for our developer partner Untold Living in Shropshire is progressing brilliantly. And we couldn’t be more pleased with how things are shaping up so far.
Since McPhillips broke ground in Newport late last year, we’ve been making steady progress on what will eventually become a flagship development of 61 apartments and 15 bungalows for retirees.
The October start feels like yesterday, but we’ve already raced through the earthworks and site preparation.
Contracts manager Carl Ayling said: “We thought the initial muckshift would take a couple of months, but a bit of luck with the winter weather helped us to get the ground ready far earlier than expected.
“The most exciting part is just around the corner and in early June, we’re expecting delivery of pre-manufactured steel frame panels for our apartment blocks. These panels will be delivered on-site by our Leeds-based partners at Remagin and they come complete with windows, insulation and brick ties already installed.”
Carl said by deploying Modern Methods of Construction, McPhillips has been able to accelerate the build programme, minimise disruption on site, all the time while achieving a high standard of workmanship.
“Fewer workers are needed on site, the process is cleaner and safer, and quality is improved through factory-controlled production,” he explained.
“The best part, of course, is the speed. We expect to get both apartment blocks erected in just 12 weeks – a fraction of the time it would take using traditional construction methods.
“In the meantime, we’re cracking on with foundations and infrastructure so everything’s ready for when those panels arrive. Once they’re in place, we’ll see the apartment blocks shooting up in no time.
“We’ve also got some clever tricks planned for the bungalows too. We’ll actually build the roofs at ground level before craning them into position which is much safer than having people working at height.”
The entire development has been designed by Gaunt Francis Architects and the project is being managed by Total Project Integration.
Once handed over to Untold Living in summer 2026, the Integrated Retirement Community (ITR) will provide much-needed flexible and supportive living for older residents. It will give retirees the opportunity to ‘right-size’ into quality homes without leaving the local area.
Project manager Darren Lewis said he was extremely pleased with progress to date.
“Each week you can really see the difference. When you look at progress photos, it’s rewarding to see how much our small, committed team has achieved.
“I’m particularly proud that about 60-70 percent of our workforce comes from within 15 miles of Newport. There’s something special about local people building for the local community. At our busiest this summer, we expect to have around 100 workers on site.”
In our next diary entry we’ll bring you all the excitement as those steel frames start to transform our site into Newport’s first dedicated retirement village.
In the meantime, you can also keep up to date on our progress via our dedicated Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/NewportRetirementCommunity
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