Breightmet
Be One Homes
c.£6.5m.
St Osmund’s is a circa £6.5m development of 40 affordable homes on the former St Osmund’s RC Primary School site in Breightmet, Bolton. Delivered for Bolton at Home with contractor McCauls, the scheme brings a redundant school site back into use within an established residential neighbourhood.
The development comprises 11 three-bedroom houses, five two-bedroom houses and a three-storey building containing 18 one-bedroom and six two-bedroom apartments. Eight houses are designated for Rent to Buy, with the remaining homes available for Affordable Rent.
We developed the layout, scale and massing to sit comfortably within the established residential neighbourhood. The positioning of houses and the three-storey apartment building responds to surrounding properties, maintaining privacy distances and allowing space for protected boundary trees.
Brick was chosen as the principal facing material to reflect the local residential vernacular and give the houses and apartments a consistent architectural character.
BTP acted as Lead Architect, developing a layout that balances the provision of new homes with the site’s changing levels, protected boundary trees and proximity to existing housing.
We designed the houses and apartment building around these constraints, considering building positions, scale and materials alongside privacy, parking and outdoor space. Working with McCauls and the wider project team, we developed the architectural proposals through to delivery.
Forty affordable homes arranged around retained boundary trees, with a layout that responds to the site’s changing levels and surrounding housing. Houses and apartments bring a mix of homes to land returned to community use.
The site slopes from a higher point in the north-east towards the south-west. We developed the layout to work with this topography, balancing practical construction requirements with the need to accommodate houses, apartments and access within a viable development.
Protected trees around the boundaries were an integral part of the design. Positioning buildings away from the trees and site edges helped retain the established landscape setting while accommodating the new homes. This required careful coordination with the spacing needed between new and existing properties.
Privacy distances to neighbouring habitable rooms informed the arrangement and orientation of buildings. We considered the houses and three-storey apartment block together, relating their heights and scale to surrounding development and limiting their impact on existing residents.
Brick was selected as the principal facing material to reflect the surrounding residential character. The specification prioritised durable, low-maintenance materials with good weathering performance, supporting the long-term management of the homes.
Security and natural surveillance also shaped the layout. Parking was positioned close to the homes it serves, allowing residents to overlook vehicles and access routes. Secure gardens and lighting to roads, parking and communal outdoor areas were considered alongside Secured by Design principles, supported by a commissioned Crime Impact Statement.
We positioned the houses and apartment building away from protected boundary trees, making their retention an integral part of the design. This preserves the site’s established green edges and gives the new homes a mature landscape setting from the outset.
St Osmund’s has transformed a former school site into 40 affordable homes, with the completed properties handed over to residents.
The mix of apartments and two- and three-bedroom houses provides accommodation for different household sizes, while Affordable Rent and Rent to Buy offer alternative routes to a home.
The development demonstrates how a layout informed by topography, retained trees and neighbouring properties can bring redundant land back into use while respecting an established residential setting.
McCauls
Identity Consult
