esigned by national architects Pozzoni, the studio was recently awarded ‘Sustainable Housing Scheme of the Year’ at this year’s prestigious Housing Excellence Awards for its work on the three 13-storey blocks.

The apartments in the three towers, known as Tribe New Islington, Tribe Ancoats and Tribe East Quarter, will offer a saving of at least 28,000 tonnes of carbon over their lifetime.

Prior to refurbishment, the tower blocks had been empty since 1994. They required extensive remedial works and modernisation to make them suitable for new residents as well as significantly reduce carbon emissions. To help minimise the development’s carbon footprint and create energy savings for tenants, a number of sustainability measures were put in place throughout the refurbishment.

As part of the buildings’ new design, Pozzoni included triple glazed aluminium windows and high standards of thermal insulation were used on the roofs and in the buildings’ over cladding. The apartments benefit from low energy lighting, low water consumption appliances and sanitaryware as well as 400kW biomass boilers, which were installed in new energy centres constructed at each block. These boilers account for approximately 80% of the CO2 emission reduction (the regulated CO2 emission improvement over existing building is 95%). Areas of green roof were also included to the low-level energy centre extensions.

Each apartment is connected to a wet central heating system, providing a more efficient heat source than electric panel heaters, which are common in many new apartment schemes. Thanks to this system as well as the biomass boiler, occupiers at the three tower blocks, collectively known as Tribe apartments, typically benefit from energy prices that are half those of electricity users.

Andrew Smith, Project Lead and Technical Director at Pozzoni, said: “When we were first appointed on this project we knew that there was an opportunity to create a sustainable development and reduce the carbon footprint of each of the buildings. This started with the retention of the original structure of the tower blocks instead of demolition, site clearance and starting again.

“Our extensive experience of regenerating tower blocks and our understanding of the spaces that can be created within an existing shell helped drive the decision to retain the buildings in lieu of demolition.

“We were able to meet our aims through the features we put in place including significantly improved thermal regulation, enhanced acoustic measures and the specification of internal finishes with low VOCs, which assists in improving air quality. We also infilled the balconies to increase the habitable floor area in each apartment which significantly enhanced the amount of natural daylight into the internal spaces.”

Another key priority for Pozzoni was to ensure that the finished buildings all benefitted from lower energy bills. This was driven through the buildings’ design and servicing strategy and the many sustainable features and technologies built into the scheme ensured the apartments would be more affordable for future occupiers on the rental market.

All of the apartments and communal areas are linked to a wireless computer network and monthly readings are taken for heating and hot water usage. The performance of the biomass boilers are also monitored on a monthly basis and Plumlife, the firm managing the apartments, also send regular satisfaction surveys to apartment tenants.

Due to the effectiveness of the design, the delivery of the scheme and the significant sustainability measures put in place, the apartments were also accredited with a BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ rating.

The Tribe scheme was made possible by a new collaborative partnership between Manchester City Council, Ancoats Residential Holdings and Rowlinson Construction, which regenerated the area and created 192 homes for local people.

Andrew said: “Due to the length of time the towers had been vacant before the refurbishment, they had become a serious social issue in the area, attracting vermin, social drug use and there were remnants of asbestos throughout the buildings, as well as other problems.

“The regeneration of the apartments has not only provided new sustainable homes in the heart of Manchester, but it has helped to significantly improve and breathe new life in to the local community.”

Pozzoni worked closely with Rowlinson Construction, the subcontractor team, supply chain and the BREEAM assessor at the Energy Council throughout the refurbishment process. This ensured that design decisions and specifications met sustainability and BREEAM criteria so that the ‘Outstanding’ rating could be achieved.

“By working closely with our BREEAM consultants, we ensured that we were reviewing and then specifying the most appropriate systems available at the time,” explained Andrew. “This included comparing fuel types as well as its present and future availability, carbon cost of the fuel, ease and availability of delivery and the size of each biomass boiler per site.

“We worked closely with sustainable insulation suppliers, Rockwool in reviewing the most appropriate insulation systems to achieve not only the desired target U-values and recycled content within the material, but also the right aesthetics for the scheme concept. By giving careful consideration to each of these elements, we were able to select the best features and specifications to improve the refurbished blocks that would continue to be effective long in to the future.”

The apartments have proved to be incredibly popular and all 192 apartments were fully let within two weeks of each block completing and being handed over.

The £17m high-profile scheme received a £7.9m build to rent loan from the Homes and Communities Agency, the first loan of its kind to be approved in the country. This loan was granted as the regeneration project met the criteria of providing a good quality, large-scale development in the private rent sector. The development also benefitted from £1m of Energy Company Obligation (ECO) funding from EDF Energy which allowed the biomass heating systems to be installed across the three apartment blocks.

A spokesperson for Tribe Apartments said: “Tribe was the first bespoke, single block ownership scheme to complete in the North West and has been a great success in terms of regeneration, design, occupier satisfaction and financial performance.”

Every apartment is fully furnished to a high standard with low maintenance in mind, designed to endure the rigours of everyday life. All bedrooms are fitted with built-in contemporary wardrobes and finished with floor-length, flame retardant, blackout curtains. Each apartment also has a media point with access to 1MB broadband available on occupation as part of the rental package.

With over 30 years’ experience, Pozzoni has built up an impressive portfolio of public and private sector developments including offices, industrial, education, retail, housing, leisure and care projects from its offices in Manchester and London.