Transport for London, Tide Construction and Vision Modular Systems have completed a 12-storey, 308-module student housing scheme on top of Holloway Road Underground station, N7.
Chapter Highbury II sits on a 700 sq ft site and will be managed by Greystar’s student accommodation arm, Chapter. It comprises 257 bedrooms and communal spaces including a gym, cinema room and games area.
The tower was built by Tide’s offsite manufacturing company Vision Modular Systems and delivered in nine months.
Its 308 modules were constructed using production-line technologies in Vision’s Bedford factory, transferred to Holloway Road and stacked using a crane. The property is on a designated “red route”, meaning it is an area of heavy traffic with restricted parking and loading rules.
See also: For construction at pace, the future is modular
Tide said the modular housing was the only way to deliver a scheme of such size and proximity to the Underground station.
The site is partially owned by TfL, and the scheme has enabled the company to deliver new housing and raise revenue to be reinvested into the transport network.
Graeme Craig, director of commercial development at TfL, said: “This project shows how the industry can use fresh and innovative approaches to unlock complex, challenging sites, which might otherwise be impossible to deliver using conventional methods of construction, and ensure that any impact on those travelling across London is kept to a minimum.”
Christy Hayes, chief executive at Tide Construction, said: “Many of the smaller sites in cities like London are too restricted for traditional construction methods to be successfully applied. This has created a huge opportunity for systems like ours, which use offsite manufacturing facilities to help minimise the disruption to the local area.”
Chapter Highbury II opened in September for university students starting the 2018/19 academic year. It is the third scheme that Vision has delivered for Chapter using modular techniques. Vision is also currently working with Greystar on its 400-home Greenford build-to-rent scheme in Ealing, west London.
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