News / New social housing signed off
SHETLAND Islands Council’s former housing offices on Lerwick’s Fort Road have been reinvented as a block of 12 social housing flats.
On Wednesday Hjaltland Housing Association confirmed that the £1.7 million Lyndhurst Place development had been completed after it initially took ownership of the site in 2014.
All of the flats in the block are one-bedroom units, with five of them made for one-person occupancies and the remaining seven suited for two people.
The development was designed by Edinburgh architects Gilberts and constructed by local company Hunter & Morrison Ltd.
Hjaltland Housing Association chief executive Bryan Leask said the project was created in response to demand for smaller housing units.
“We are very pleased with the standard of design and finish that has been achieved on this project and feel that, following the completion of Excelsior Place immediately adjacent to the site, this forms a great addition to our growing portfolio,” he said.
“We work closely with the local authority to focus our developments in the priority areas identified in the local housing strategy but the waiting list, particularly for one and two bedroom homes, remains stubbornly high.
“The association continue to work toward meeting the housing needs of those throughout Shetland and have plans to develop a further 157 homes over the next five years.”
The housing association demolished the original house located on the site, which inspired the name of the development.
Dougie Thomson of architects Gilberts said he was “very pleased” with how the design turned out.
“It looks like quite a simple building from the street but there is a lot going on behind the façade,” he said.
“The former offices presented a dreary, derelict, face before they were demolished. The scheme was designed, along with Excelsior Place, to enhance the frontage of Fort Road with a slate roof, natural larch cladding and alu-clad timber windows adding to the appearance whilst also reducing the ongoing maintenance costs.
“Building so many flats into such a tight site was certainly a challenge but Hunter and Morrison have done a fine job. Gilberts are delighted with the outcome and look forward to working with the association again in the future.”
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