Construction at Agar Grove in Camden, UK’s largest passivhaus development, has reached a new milestone with the ‘topping out’ of the latest phase of 125 homes. Representatives from Camden Council and The Hill Group took part in the event to mark reaching the highest point of the building’s concrete frame.
Agar Grove is an award-winning development built by The Hill Group for Camden Council as part of its Community Investment Programme, through which it is investing over £1 billion in building schools, homes and community facilities across the borough. Once complete, Agar Grove will be the largest Passivhaus development in the UK, delivering homes that are energy efficient and innovative in design. The masterplan for the regeneration of the estate provides a total of nearly 500 homes for new and existing residents.
Councillor Danny Beales of Camden Council led the topping out ceremony by adding the last small element to the top of the concrete wall to mark this project milestone. The latest phase of this six-phase development includes 35 ‘Camden Living’ homes and five council homes. In addition, there will be 85 homes for private sale. The current construction works also include a convenient retail unit, as well as public realm and landscaping.
Cllr Danny Beales, Cabinet Member for Cabinet Member for New Homes, Jobs and Community Investment, said: “In Camden we are proud to be building the first new Council homes in generation, including at Agar Grove where the innovative and award-winning homes we have built are helping to address some of the most significant challenges that we are facing in Camden. We have built larger homes that will prevent overcrowding and provide our families with space to grow, and some of the most energy efficient homes in the UK, which are helping residents out of fuel poverty and cutting carbon emissions at a time when bills are rising and action against climate change is urgently needed.
“This is a significant milestone for Agar Grove and for the local residents who we have worked in partnership with to create a new shared vision of their local area and to deliver the improved homes that they desperately need. From a 1960s estate that was in poor condition, with cramped flats and a disconnect from the surrounding streets, residents at Agar Grove can now feel connected to their community in homes that are a third larger on an estate that benefits from communal green spaces, areas for children to play, and new retail units.”
Andy Hill, Chief Executive at The Hill Group comments: “We are delighted to reach this key point in the construction of Agar Grove and turn the plans for this innovative new development into a reality. We have been working with Camden Council since the first phase of the development and we look forward to continuing this successful partnership. The Hill Group is committed to helping its partners go further in achieving homes that are sustainable and low energy, to suit the needs not only of today’s residents but those long into the future.”
The two earlier phases of Agar Grove, the UK’s largest passivhaus development, completed in 2018 and 2021 respectively, delivered 72 new council homes, 23 homes for sale and two new public squares. The redevelopment has already received many awards including, most recently, from Camden Design Awards 2022, RICS Awards 2022, New London Architecture Awards 2021 and the Passivhaus Trust Awards 2021.
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