Fosters Estate Phase 2

Summary

Fosters Estate is a residential development run by Hill Group. It was built using Fusion Steel Framing (FSF) rather than a traditional structural approach. Our brief was to find substantial savings on the MEP subcontract. Cost was the target, but the savings could not come at the expense of operational efficiency or sustainability, so we went back to first principles on how space and energy were being used across the estate.

Technical Innovations

Rationalisation of Plant Spaces: plant spaces were reviewed across the scheme and the area given over to them reduced.

Energy Centre Optimisation: the number of Energy Centres was cut from eight to three, which brought operational costs down.

Integration of Buried Services: more of the site services were run buried, which simplified utility distribution.

Substation and Electrical Services Redesign: the electrical distribution strategy was reworked, saving cost and improving system reliability.

Sustainability Achievements, Client Collaboration and Outcome

The sustainability gains at Fosters Estate came out of the same decisions as the savings. Reducing the energy centres and cutting back the plant spaces minimised the project’s environmental footprint. Each of those changes was worked through with the client, so every decision answered to the sustainability goals and the financial ones at once. The scheme delivered £1m in savings, and the environmental result came from the same set of changes rather than from anything added on top.