Hope Court YMCA, Stoke

Morris Property was commissioned to deliver an exciting project for North Staffordshire YMCA with a contract value of £4.9million.  The 21-month project saw the creation of 46 new apartments to provide ‘transitional housing’ for young people in the area, as they look to start a career and move to private accommodation.

YMCA in action

The site sits alongside the current YMCA facility in Hanley which houses more than 100 young people and runs as a youth campus, rather than a traditional youth hostel. The campus offers young people a high standard of accommodation in a safe and supportive environment. YMCA staff offer education, employment opportunities and well-being advice, together with a wide range of creative and recreational activities.

Bright, fit for purpose facilities

The apartments, known as Hope Court, are contained within three traditional masonry buildings linked by a gantry. The two-storey building, which has two apartments, also houses an LV switch room, communal laundry and plant room with a lift and stairwell. The three-storey comprises 12 apartments, whilst the four-storey building has 32 apartments with an integrated fire escape and stairwell.

Each of the apartments has a bedroom, separate bathroom and open kitchen and living space with all but two of the apartments having a south facing aspect.  Solar panels were fitted on the roofs, integrated within the power system of the building, augmenting energy conservation.  In terms of fitting out, the Property team laid all the hard and soft flooring and fitted the kitchens in all 46 apartments.

Meeting the challenges

The most challenging part of the project from a construction perspective was the design and installation of the gantry linking the buildings, with its fire retardant steel framework designed to  meet all current Fire  and Building Regulations.  This complex structure needed to be completed before all the final external works could then be finalised and all apartment services including sprinklers connected.

Community links

An essential part of every project Morris Property undertakes is to connect and contribute wherever possible to the local community during construction. A Meet and Greet event was staged and hosted by the Morris team allowing the local community to come into the YMCA, see the plans and talk to Contracts Manager Andy Richards who oversaw the project along with the on-site team.  Subsequently, once a month members of the Morris team attended the community event held at the YMCA for locals to attend.