Bidwell West Local Centre, Houghton Regis

The Bidwell West Local Centre is a neighbourhood complex centre contained within a vibrant new community in Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire. The centre comprises 22 two-bedroom apartments, a nursery, convenience store and 4 further retail units, forming part of a larger housing scheme named Millard Grange. The development offers 1,900 homes, a 66-bedroom care home, green spaces, 2 new schools, and playing fields.

Main Contractors for the Bidwell West Local Centre are Brickhill Construction, the contracting arm of the Brickhill group of companies. Focusing on residential and niche commercial projects, they handle builds for Brickhill Homes, as well as operating in conjunction with Housing Associations in the South East and South Midlands area to deliver affordable homes.

Brickhill Construction approached urbanspec with a requirement for an enclosed bike store to meet planning conditions for the development in Houghton Regis. Based on the H-Series pre-engineered design, the specification was developed to ensure the detailed project requirements were met. Secure storage for 16no. bikes was achieved through the integration of urbanspec ST Bike Stands, with a code secure lock ensuring resident-only access.

Specifications included ForestPanel Slat external cladding in a horizontal pattern, providing the unit with a contemporary style to match the surrounding development, combined with the installation of a sedum-only green roof. Coordinating with green spaces on a development and establishing a habitat for flora and fauna, green roofs can play a central role in enhancing biodiversity outputs, especially in new developments to help contribute towards BNG targets. The configurable design platform of urbanspec external storage systems accommodates a range of roof design systems, enabling the integration of green roofs to increase the capture of Co2 and reduce rainwater run-off.

To facilitate a fast installation, Brickhill Construction prepared the unit’s concrete base using standard foundation details during the H-Series’ manufacturing process. This enabled the unit to be installed in just 2 days in a prominent and easily accessible location, ready to offer secure storage and bike parking for residents of the development.