Newport retirement village gathers pace as utilities connect and interiors near completion
Diary entry six: April 2026
Energised utilities, completed kitchens and bathrooms, and balcony installations on the horizon – the £20 million Newport retirement village is accelerating through its final phases as the project builds towards handover.
With 20 kitchens and more than 24 bathrooms now fully fitted and tiled, the project is firmly in the final stretch, transitioning from heavy trades to the finishing touches that will make each property a home.
Energisation on site, specifically the communal areas, apartments, bungalows and plant room, has seen:
- Coordination included road construction and tarmacking for additional shared parking with DC Construction
- Gas supply installed for commercial kitchen and laundry
- Water main live pending chlorination test results to ensure safety and compliance
- May 27 set as trigger date for full water and energy supply to block C
- Completion of trench work and tarmacking around Block A improves site access and aesthetics
- Scaffold removal underway, allowing external works to progress without obstruction
As the scaffold started to come down, the team pivoted in order to implement an innovative solution to the challenge of delivering fire doors and kitchens to the apartments.
Project manager Darren Lewis said: “We were planning on leaving the loading bay gates to some of the balcony areas so that we could load the kitchens in, along with the internal fire doors that come set in a frame.
“But we came up with a new plan: we took away the loading bays which allowed us to get all the scaffolding off the floor, then we fixed boards to the balconies and put in three-sided scaffold. That way, when the kitchens and doors arrive, we have a scaffolder on site to take up the handrails and we just feed everything straight in.
“It’s a process that has evolved through trial and error and that we’ve been able to improve on. It’s allowed us to get the scaffold down earlier and get on with the external works.”
Meanwhile, as drainage and external works near completion, quick start balcony installations are due to start in early May with soft landscaping expected in early June.
Interior works on site have reached advanced stages, with 20 kitchens and 24 bathrooms fully fitted and tiled:
- Bricklayers finishing will free up 4-5 vehicles from a congested car park
- M&E first fix completion will enable plastering to proceed uninterrupted
- Transition from heavy trades to finishing trades planned imminently
- Currently deploying 28 plasterers working intensively to complete plastering within four weeks
- After plastering, 6-8 painters and 6-8 carpenters will take over, easing site congestion
Darren said: “We’ve reached a really significant point on this project. With kitchens and bathrooms fitted and plastering well under way, you can genuinely start to see these apartments coming to life. The trades are working in close sequence and the coordination between teams has been excellent. We’re in a strong position as we move into the final phases.”
The final phases means the preparation of the show bungalows, so that the client can start to show potential residents around what could be their new community at Sundew Court.
Darren said: “The project is starting to look and feel like a finished community. The show bungalow is nearly there – window coverings are in and it’ll be dressed within the week, which is a really exciting moment for the marketing side of things. At the same time, the bungalows we’ve been using to hold kitchens are gradually emptying out as units go into apartments every week, which is a great sign of the pace we’re working at.
“But what is especially important at this stage is quality. We’ve assigned four managers specifically to oversee the finishing trades and make sure standards are consistently high across plastering, painting and door installation. Because access to certain areas will close and surfaces will be covered, we’re making photographic documentation mandatory at every stage.
“These are the final finishes that residents will see and live with every day, so there’s no room to cut corners.”
The site continues to be documented on the dedicated Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/NewportRetirementCommunity
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