people, places, homes and communities · an award-winning ftse 100 company with strong values our...

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PEOPLE, PLACES, HOMES AND COMMUNITIES

Development and regeneration is about people. It is about transforming places and lives and creating successful and strong communities.

Highwood

Kidbrooke Village

T H E B E R K E L E Y G R O U P – P E O P L E , P L A C E S , H O M E S A N D C O M M U N I T I E S

The Berkeley Group

Wherever you live, people want

the same thing. A home where

they feel safe. Their own front door.

A gentle view of the park or the trees.

A community with character, friends

and a sense of belonging.

None of this has changed since we first

set up Berkeley Group over forty years

ago. The business has evolved from

building individual houses to creating

whole new neighbourhoods which

blend hundreds – even thousands – of

homes alongside new shops, schools,

parks and stations.

But the culture and principles behind

our work remain the same: attention to

detail, respect for the community, great

customer service, and a real passion for

places which grace their surroundings

and where people feel proud.

To my mind, new development is always

about people. First and foremost, it is

about transforming individual lives and

building strong communities. Taking

unloved, under-used land and turning

it into wonderful, inviting spaces with

beautiful landscaping.

It is also about collaboration and

partnership. I know from experience

that you can only succeed by working

together. We approach each site in a

spirit of partnership and listen and

learn from the communities and

councils who give us permission

to bring forward development.

Ultimately, I do believe that

housebuilding and placemaking are

forces for good in this country; and that

whatever the challenge, on neglected

estates, town centre developments or

in beautiful rural settings, we can make

a real and lasting difference together.

Tony Pidgley CBE Chairman of the Berkeley Group

To my mind, new development is always about people. First and foremost, it is about transforming individual lives and building strong communities.

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T H E B E R K E L E Y G R O U P

1980sBerkeley Homes expands

throughout the Home

Counties and gains a

reputation as a boutique

housebuilder

1976Berkeley Homes

established in Weybridge,

Surrey by Tony Pidgley

CBE and Jim Farrer

1988Berkeley Group builds

over 600 homes a year

1996St James established as

a joint venture between

Thames Water and

Berkeley Group

1999Berkeley commences

development of

Gunwharf Quays

1991Work starts on Barnes

Waterside, building 321

homes around a nature

and wetlands reserve

1982St George founded as

a partnership with a

commercial developer

1985Berkeley Group fully

listed on the London

Stock Exchange, with

a market capitalisation

of £67 million

An early Berkeley home Gunwharf Quays

The Berkeley Group began over forty years ago as a housebuilder, offering customers genuine choice, individual attention and bespoke design.

Berkeley Group Established 1976

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2010“Our Vision” is created

to deliver the business

strategy of being a

modern world-class

company

2009Berkeley begins

the regeneration of

Woodberry Down and

Kidbrooke Village

2014St William established

as a joint venture

between National Grid

and Berkeley Group.

Berkeley Group awarded

The Queen’s Award

for Enterprise for

Sustainable Development

for the second time

20151,000th home delivered

at Woodberry Down

The Berkeley Group joins

the FTSE 100

20161,000th home delivered

at Kidbrooke Village

2006St Edward established

as a joint venture

between Berkeley Group

and the Prudential

2011The Berkeley Foundation

set up to support

young people and their

communities across

London and the South

of England. Berkeley

Group voted Britain’s

Most Admired Company

across all industries2008Berkeley Group awarded

the UK’s highest

accolade for business

success – The Queen’s

Award for Enterprise for

Sustainable Development

Woodberry Down Kidbrooke Village

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Provide exceptional service to all of our customers

and put them at the heart of our decisions.

Develop individually designed, high quality homes

with low environmental impact.

Create great places where residents enjoy a good

quality of life, now and in the future.

Make the right long-term decisions whilst running the

business efficiently and working with our supply chain.

Develop a highly skilled workforce who run autonomous businesses, operate in a safe and supportive

working environment and contribute to wider society.

HAVE INTEGRITY

BE PASSIONATE

RESPECT PEOPLE

THINK CREATIVELY

EXCELLENCE THROUGH DETAIL

FIVE FOCUS AREAS

OUR VISIONTo be a modern, world-class business generating long-term value by creating successful, sustainable places where people aspire to live.

PLACES

CUSTOMERS

OPERATIONS

HOMES

OUR PEOPLE

Our Vision

Our values help us to deliver business strategy, “Our

Vision”, which is to be a modern, world-class business

generating long-term value by creating successful,

sustainable places where people aspire to live.

Our culture and principles remain the same as they did over forty years ago: attention to detail, respect for the community, great customer service, and a real passion for places which grace their surroundings and where people feel proud.

OUR CULTURE AND VALUES

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An award-winning FTSE 100 company with strong values

Our values and culture remain as strong

now we are a FTSE100 company, as

when we started over forty years ago.

Having a passion for great places,

integrity, showing respect for people,

thinking creatively and achieving

excellence through detail, are central

to the way we operate.

We are very proud that the way we run

our business has been recognised and

awarded but the accomplishments we

are most proud of are the developments

we deliver, the enhancements to

communities we work with, and the

places we create where people can live,

work and spend time.

The success of Berkeley Group’s

approach is recognised in the many

corporate and development awards

we have received.

Berkeley Group is the only housebuilder

to be awarded the Queen’s Award for

Enterprise for Sustainable Development.

For the 12th consecutive year Berkeley

Group has topped its sector in

Management Today’s Most Admired

Companies, as well as being second

overall. Other recent awards include

Sunday Times Housebuilder of the Year,

Estate Gazette’s National Property

Company and Residential Property

Company of the Year and WhatHouse?

Best Large Housebuilder.

We are committed to delivering world-

class customer service by consistently

achieving a top quartile Net Promoter

Score. This score benchmarks the

service we provide against highly-

regarded companies across all sectors.

Our six-month rolling average score

of 71 compares favourably with other

exemplary companies such as John

Lewis and Apple.

In 2011 we were delighted to be

awarded First across all sectors in

Britain’s Most Admired Companies. We

were Second in 2012 and again 2017.

Through the framework of “Our Vision”,

we articulate our strategy across our

five areas of strategic focus: Customers;

Homes; Places; Operations and Our

People. Our Values also contain a

series of sector-leading commitments

designed to make us a modern world-

class business.

We are honoured to hold the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for Sustainable Development. This is the UK’s highest

accolade for business success, recognising 5 years of continuous

achievement. The Berkeley Group is the only British housebuilder to have won

this prestigious award twice.

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Battersea Reach

SUCCESSFUL DEVELOPMENT IS ABOUT PEOPLE

AND PARTNERSHIPS; IT IS FOUNDED ON RESPECT,

RELATIONSHIPS AND TRUST.

P E O P L E

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P E O P L E

Customer first

Our customers are at the heart of every decision we make, we never forget that we are building someone’s home; the place they will enjoy, relax and feel secure. Buying a home is one of the most important decisions a person will make.

Kidbrooke Village8


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P E O P L E

Partnerships and Relationships built on trust

375 Kensington High Street


Built by St Edward, a joint venture

of the Berkeley Group and Prudential.

Kidbrooke Village

Built by Berkeley in

partnership with the Royal

Borough of Greenwich.

Successful partnerships deliver fantastic new places with high quality homes, public realm, amenities and community facilities.

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Kidbrooke Village 11

P E O P L E

Barnes Village

Berkeley delivered the London Wetlands Centre as part of the Barnes

Village development in the early 1990s. It was one of our early lessons

in placemaking, working alongside the local community to enhance

the neighbourhood and create a place which people would want to

come and enjoy.

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Working together

In our experience, a strong partnership

based on trust and a collaborative

approach is key to unlocking delivery.

When a council, community and

developer find a way to work together,

you get better development. With a

shared vision, shared goals and shared

risks, you get a better place and more

high quality homes.

Many of our developments take decades

to deliver so partnerships must stand

the test of time, often through economic

and political cycles. Key to this is an

honest and open approach supported by

clear communication. It is important to

establish shared objectives at the outset

and review them periodically to ensure

they remain current. Only when you

have sufficient trust can the relationship

evolve and survive changes in personnel,

funding and economic change.

Successful partnerships can deliver new homes, new schools and better infrastructure.

190 Strand

Built by St Edward, a joint

venture of the Berkeley

Group and Prudential,

190 Strand, located in the

heart of the West End in

the Strand, comprises 216

apartments and penthouses.

Prince of Wales Drive

Built by St William, our joint venture with National Grid,

Prince of Wales Drive has transformed a former gas site

into 955 new homes set around a new public square.

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P E O P L E

Apprentice training

Jobs and training

We ensure that the community

benefits from employment and training

opportunities from the development.

We employ full-time workplace co-

ordinators who work with our supply

chain and secure employment and

training opportunities for the local

community. We forge partnerships

with local schools, promoting careers

in construction and development. This

includes giving careers’ talks, hosting site

visits and providing work experience.

Berkeley Group is committed to supporting 1,500 apprentices (2016-18) and supporting 10% of our workforce to undertake vocational training.

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We forge partnerships with localschools, promoting careers inconstruction and development.

Engaging with schools 15

P E O P L E

One Tower Bridge16


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P L A C E S

DEVELOPMENT AND REGENERATION IS ABOUT PEOPLE.

IT IS ABOUT TRANSFORMING PLACES AND LIVES AND

CREATING SUCCESSFUL AND STRONG COMMUNITIES.

P L A C E S

The Hamptons

The Hamptons in Worcester Park, looking as good now as when the first residents moved in over ten years ago.


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Creating new places and strong communities

We design and deliver enduring, sustainable

and attractive new places, creating strong

communities where people from all walks

of life live comfortably together. Our approach

is always to put people first. We start with

a vision for the community and plan for the

things that really matter to our customers:

good shops and somewhere to relax, knowing

your neighbours, feeling safe, and being able

to influence what goes on.

Our hallmark is rigorous attention to detail

at every stage, from site selection, to

masterplanning, construction, selecting the

right mix of uses and commercial tenants and

managing the estate. This creates exceptional

developments that stand the test of time.

Every decision we take is for the long term,

from the choice of site to the design of the

masterplan and architecture of the buildings.

Effective management and place-keeping are

incorporated from the start.

Creating the right place requires significant

up-front investment in infrastructure, public

realm and landscaping. This is important to set

the tone and establish a sense of place. We do

not view our developments as an island, rather

as sitting at the heart of the wider community

and area. Integration and connectivity are

central to creating a successful place. We

achieve what we do by working in partnership

with local authorities, local communities and

other stakeholders to deliver an agreed vision.

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P L A C E S

Goodman’s Fields

On every development, our plan is to create a place where people can meet and socialise with their neighbours.


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P L A C E S

Goodman’s Fields

Woodberry Down


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Creating beautiful public realm and landscaping

High quality landscape and public realm

is the essence of a successful masterplan,

creating an attractive place where people

want to live and spend time, and benefits

the whole community. Delivering the public

realm upfront is important to setting the

tone, especially in regeneration areas where

it is vital to demonstrate the quality of the

new development to signal change.

At the heart of our masterplans is creating

links and connections with the areas in

which they are located. This will include

physical links such as roads and pedestrian

routes, and linkages through the mix of

amenities and facilities included in the

development, knitting the development

into the wider community.

We are currently creating over 500 acres of parks, public realm and open space, and planting over 9,500 trees.

BERKELEY ANNUAL REPORT 2017 STRATEGIC REPORT

Quality landscaping

Dickens Yard

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P L A C E S

Wye Dene24


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P L A C E S

Extensive public realm

Our developments include extensive

public realm, designed to meet local

needs and contribute to the wider

area. This includes new public squares

at London Dock and One Blackfriars;

parkland at Kidbrooke Village and

Woodhurst Park, wetlands at Woodberry

Down and parkland at Holborough Lakes.

Berkeley Group is the first developer to

commit to achieving a net biodiversity

gain on all developments. Enhanced

biodiversity provides benefits to the

community and our customers, promoting

wellbeing, as well as to the environment.

We will ensure there is more nature after

development than before as well as

providing high-quality public realm and

green infrastructure. Our biodiversity

toolkit aids our masterplans and

informs how we best achieve improved

biodiversity which might include green

roofs, beehives, swales, parks and new

trees and habitats.

At Woodberry Down in Hackney, new tree

belts, hedgerows and wetlands have been

created to connect with existing habitats

beyond the site and enhance local wildlife

corridors. At Wye Dene, the swales

created to minimise surface water run-off

provide an amenity feature and have been

planted to provide habitats for wildlife.

London Dock

Woodberry Down26


Berkeley Group is the firstdeveloper to commit toachieving a net biodiversitygain on all developments.Bersted Park

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P L A C E S

Woodberry Down28


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P L A C E S

One Tower Bridge

One Tower Bridge was the Pollinator

Category Winner in CIRIA’s BIG Biodiversity

Challenge Awards 2016. Four rooftop

beehives, each with 50,000 bees, benefit

from planting of bee forage nearby which

was sponsored by Berkeley. Residents at

One Tower Bridge enjoy their own honey

from the beehives.

Stanmore Place

Stanmore Place: has won six landscape and

sustainability awards, including What House?

‘Best Landscape Design’ and been highly

commended in a further three including the

International Property Awards.

We will ensure there is more nature after development than before.

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Woodberry Down

The wetlands at Woodberry

are teeming with wildlife and

are home to Kingfishers, Reed

Warblers, bees and dragon

flies; in the heart of London.

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P L A C E S

Kidbrooke Village

High quality landscape and public realm is the essence of a successful masterplan.

3232


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P L A C E S

Water creates peace and tranquillity for residents and the whole community.

Taplow Riverside

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Woodberry Down

Holborough Lakes

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P L A C E S

Delivering the public realm upfront is important for establishing the place.

Woodberry Down36


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P L A C E S

Fulham Reach London Dock

HighwoodFulham Reach

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Creating Fantastic Places: A Landscape-led Approach

Public art and sculpture helps to give new developments an identity and character.

Goodman’s Fields 39

P L A C E S

We provide local facilities that add activity and interest and are enjoyed by all the community.

London Dock

Vista

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Kidbrooke Village

Goodman’s Fields

Beaufort Park

Royal Arsenal Riverside

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P L A C E S

Bridge Theatre at One Tower Bridge

The Bridge Theatre, the first theatre delivered in central London in over 100 years.

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P L A C E S

Charlotte’s W5, Dickens Yard

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Fulham Reach 45

P L A C E S

Kensington Primary School at 375 Kensington High Street

46


We deliver schools and community spaces and facilities for all the community to benefit.

The Village Hall at Holborough Lakes

The Redmond Community Centre at Woodberry Down Kensington Primary School

Kensington Primary School

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P L A C E S

Kidbrooke Village

Royal Arsenal Woolwich PierBicycle storage

Thames Clippers

Getting around

New development often leads to better

infrastructure, which benefits the existing

community as well as each new resident.

Keeping people moving and making it easy

to get around opens up communities and

creates better access to jobs and work.

We deliver new transport infrastructure that improves accessibility and benefits all the community.

48


Imperial Wharf Station 49

P L A C E S

Emerald Square50


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BERKELEY GROUP BUILDS HOMES

FOR EVERYONE; FAMILIES,

FIRST-TIME BUYERS, STUDENTS,

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

AND FOR SENIOR CITIZENS.

H O M E S

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H O M E S

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BERKELEY ANNUAL REPORT 2017 STRATEGIC REPORT

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Kidbrooke Village Highwood

Dickens Yard

Beaufort Park

A N I N T R O D U C T I O N T O T H E B E R K E L E Y G R O U P

Delivering homes across London and the South of England

Berkeley Group currently has over

90 developments in London and the

South which will deliver over 45,000

new homes as well as a range of

amenities and facilities including parks

and public squares, schools, community

facilities, shops and restaurants, offices

and transport infrastructure including

new stations.

These serve our residents and the wider

community and bring activity, employment

and opportunities to meet. We are involved

in some of the most ambitious, ground-

breaking and inspiring developments in

the country.

We are involved in some of the most ambitious and inspiring developments in the country.

Imperial Wharf station

Our projects include revitalising town centres, sensitive rural development, estate renewal and complex brownfield regeneration.

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H O M E S

Wimbledon Hill Park

Royal Wells Park

Bespoke solutions, high quality designs

Berkeley Group works with the best

architects to create unique and inspiring

masterplans that are sensitive to their

surroundings, contribute to the wider

community and stand the test of time.

Through design competitions we

select the best architect for each site,

exploring innovative and interesting

approaches, drawing on local influences

and responding to the local context. Our

team of in-house architects work with our

appointed architects to create exceptional

places, buildings and homes.

We start each site with a blank sheet

of paper; we do not have any standard

property types or formats. Our homes

are designed individually to meet our

customers’ needs and expectations.

Our relentless attention to detail covers

all aspects of our developments; the

discrete and efficient design of our bin

stores at Kidbrooke Village has been

commended by the NHBC Foundation

in their design guide.

Through Our Vision we ensure that our homes are designed to the highest, modern specification and are sustainable and efficient.

Kidbrooke Village54


Holborough Lakes 55

H O M E S

Green Park Village56


Fitzroy Gate

Hurlingham Gate

Each home is individually designed to meet our customers’ needs and expectations.

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H O M E S

Chelsea Creek58


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H O M E S

The spaces between the buildings are as considered as the buildings themselves.

Edenbrook

Kidbrooke Village

Every site has a landscape-led approach to the masterplan.

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Ebury Square 61

H O M E S

Kidbrooke Village


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High quality, affordable homes

Berkeley Group builds homes for

everyone; families, first-time buyers,

students, affordable housing and for

senior citizens including those who

need care.

Our developments are tenure blind and

the affordable homes are designed

with the same dedication and attention

to detail as those for sale. As well as

rented and shared ownership homes,

Berkeley Group has pioneered delivery

of Discount Market Sale Homes

aimed at first-time buyers who live or

work in the boroughs where they are

developed, which are delivered without

the need for grant. As well as helping

the large sector of the housing market

who do not qualify for social housing

but can’t afford to buy a home, the

boroughs benefit from the unsold

equity which is covenanted to them.

Berkeley Group has contributed over £2bn in the past 5 years to pay for affordable housing and a wide range of facilities and services in the community.

63

H O M E S

Battersea ReachBattersea Reach

Chambers Wharf

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Our affordable homes are designed with the same dedication and attention to detail as those for sale.

Holborough Lakes

65

H O M E S

We start each site with a blank sheet of paper; we do not have any standard solutions – parks, squares, water features are all considered in the bespoke masterplans.

Chiswick Gate66


67

H O M E S

Bringing beautiful heritage buildings to life for future generations to enjoy

We take great pride in restoring

heritage assets, conserving them,

and at the same time ensuring their

use evolves to meet the demands of

modern life. Finding an economically

viable long-term use is arguably as

important as the restoration itself.

The Berkeley Group has extensive

experience in painstakingly restoring

historic buildings, sensitively placing

them within our developments and

providing sustainable and appropriate

uses for them.

We painstakingly restore heritage buildings and place them at the heart of our developments.

68


St Joseph’s College

Restoring and converting

St Joseph’s College in

Mill Hill Village to provide

new modern homes in an

historic building.

Roehampton House

Carefully restoring the Grade I

listed 1710 Thomas Archer-designed

Roehampton House, with an

extension by Sir Edward Lutyens. The

development included restoring the

landscape and designing new homes

to complement the listed building.

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H O M E S

Royal Arsenal

Restoring and bringing back into use

23 listed buildings at the Royal Arsenal,

and carefully designing new modern

buildings to complement them.

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The Watchtower

Refurbishing and relocating

the historic Grahame-White

Watchtower building from

Beaufort Park to the adjacent

RAF Museum.

Springfield Park

Refurbishing and restoring

the 18th century Queen

Anne style Springfield

Park manor house.

Mary Datchelor House

Mary Datchelor House, formerly a

prestigious girls’ school has been

sympathetically refurbished. It now

sits alongside beautiful communal

gardens and a thriving tennis club.

Oakwood Hospital

Sympathetically restoring

and refurbishing the 19th

century Queen’s House

Hospital to create 62

new homes.

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H O M E S

One Tower Bridge

We are delivering unique apartments in some of London’s most iconic locations.

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H O M E S

Bespoke homes for senior citizens designed around their needs

With an ageing population, more than ever it is

important to deliver high quality homes for older

people, providing them with an attractive, safe and

secure place to live. Berkeley Group is experienced

in delivering bespoke homes for older people

across all tenures; affordable homes, shared

ownership and homes for sale. By providing high

quality and attractive housing we help people in

making the difficult decision to downsize from

their existing home and free up family homes for

those who need them.

As well as bespoke senior living homes, innovative

initiatives such as the ‘active elderly’ scheme at

Dickens Yard are important to help older people

as well as freeing up under-occupied homes.

St George worked with Ealing Council and

Catalyst to deliver 70 apartments targeted at the

‘active elderly’ who were under-occupying family

homes. The residents were supported throughout

their move, their costs were paid, services and

utilities managed and £1,000 paid for each room

given up. Ealing gained more family homes

than could have been provided on site, and the

residents benefit from a secure, environmentally

efficient, well managed and accessible new home

with excellent access to shops, health facilities

and public transport.

Kingshill Meadow

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Halton Court, Kidbrooke Village

75

H O M E S

Innovation in design and delivery: The Berkeley Urban House

Berkeley Group has developed a new house

design, the Berkeley Urban House, to respond

to the need for more high quality houses in

constrained urban areas. The design has taken

ten years to develop and refine, and is the first

house type to be patented. The spacious, flexible,

environmentally efficient and attractive homes

are delivered at twice the density of a traditional

terraced house.

The homes are now being built in a factory

and will be delivered in just fourteen weeks,

saving twenty weeks compared with traditional

construction methods. Berkeley Group has

acquired a ten-acre brownfield site in Ebbsfleet

to build a 150,000 sq ft factory for modular

homes which will have the potential to deliver

up to 1,000 homes a year.

Key design features:

• A roof terrace, reached by an external

staircase, providing space for planting,

playing and relaxing

• Adaptable interiors

• High levels of natural daylight through the use

of innovative design features such as lightwells

• Private outdoor area in the front which

can be used as car parking space or as

a conventional garden

• High levels of energy efficiency and water

saving providing a comfortable, healthy

and well ventilated home that is very

economical to run

Kidbrooke Village, Urban House exterior76


Kidbrooke Village, Urban House interior

Kidbrooke Village, Urban House interior Kidbrooke Village, Urban House roof terrace

The spacious, flexible, and efficient homes are delivered at twice the density of a traditional terraced house.

77

H O M E S

Woodberry Down78


OUR COMMITMENT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

GOES BEYOND OUR SITES AND THE ENVIRONMENT,

TO THE COMMUNITIES WHERE WE DEVELOP.

C O M M U N I T Y

79

C O M M U N I T Y

Building communities

On every development, our plan is to create

a place where people feel proud of their

home, connected to each other and able to

influence what goes on. We seek to create

genuine communities where people feel a

sense of belonging and can get involved,

however much they want, in local life.

This sense of community may develop

naturally in an established neighbourhood.

But it can takes years, if not decades to

evolve. We apply a structured approach to

building community right from the start and

invest time, money and care in nurturing

and accelerating the process. We plan for it,

measure it, and take the ideas and learning

from one development to the next.

Community is about people; we provide the places, space and opportunities where people come together, meet and interact.


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C O M M U N I T Y

Engaging the community

Community events on our

developments help integrate our new

residents with the existing community.

These include summer fêtes and

festivals, concerts and markets which

provide the opportunity for the

community to meet.


Fulham Reach

If you want to build somewhere special, you need a powerful vision for the community.

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Woodberry Down

83

C O M M U N I T Y

Community consultation84


Delivering for all the community, with the community

Our commitment to make a difference goes

beyond our sites and the environment, to the

communities where we develop. This starts by

engaging the community from the outset as

we design our masterplans, so we understand

and reflect what is important to them. We

deliver facilities and amenities that the whole

community benefit from, such as parks, schools,

shops and community centres.

We believe in engaging the community from the outset.

Community consultation85

C O M M U N I T Y

COMMUNITY PLAN 2018 for the residents of Goodman’s Fields and the surrounding neighbourhood

for the residents of

S T A N M O R E P L A C E

C OM

MU N

I T Y P L AN

Community plans and the art of place-keeping

Once residents start moving in, we often

develop a bespoke Community Plan to make

sure that good intentions are actually delivered

on the ground.

Each Community Plan drives an events

programme and a digital forum, which help

people mix and meet. It creates a system of

community governance, which can range from

social clubs to resident committees, and starts

to embed a sense of shared responsibility and

self-management. The leadership initially comes

from Berkeley but then passes to residents and

their estate managers who will look after each

place long-term.

People want a sense of community; with a little support, structure and planning we can create a place where people feel good, contribute and take charge.

Goodman’s Fields86


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C O M M U N I T Y

Beaufort Park, Concert in the Park88


By creating attractive public space we provide the places where people come together, meet and relax.

Vista

Woodberry Down Hermitage School Christmas Song

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C O M M U N I T Y

Royal Arsenal Riverside90


91

C O M M U N I T Y

Activities on our developments bring the community together.

Pop-up Park at London Dock

Woodfest at Woodberry Down

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Battersea Reach Summer Fair

Easter Egg Hunt at Holborough Lakes93

C O M M U N I T Y

Social sustainability

From the outset, we talk to local

residents and understand what is

already in the area and what people

want. Good local engagement creates

a sense of ownership for the proposals

which helps with long-term support and

stewardship of the place.

Then we undertake a social

sustainability assessment. This applies

a set of 13 criteria which reflect what

academic research tells us are the

building blocks of a strong community.

They include links with neighbours,

feelings of safety, local identity and

ability to influence. Crucially, they cover

both the physical and the social fabric

of a neighbourhood.

Through this assessment we prioritise

specific actions that will help to make

a fantastic place to live and realise a

shared vision. This is in tandem with, and

informed by, extensive local consultation

and masterplan preparation.

Once residents start moving in, we

develop a bespoke Community Plan to

make sure that everyone’s ambitions are

delivered. Each Community Plan drives

an events programme and a digital

forum, which help people mix and

meet. It creates a system of community

governance, which can range from social

clubs to residents committees, and starts

to embed a sense of shared responsibility

and self-management.

The leadership initially comes from Berkeley

Group but then passes to residents and the

managing agent appointed by us to look

after each place long-term.

We also measure the success of each

community. On some large developments

we commission independent research to

test our performance against the 13 social

sustainability criteria. This provides evidence

about people’s wellbeing and a clear picture

of what works and where we need to

improve. The lessons help inform us as we

prepare future proposals and masterplans.

Ultimately, we work to create a place where

people are happy and where the residents

can contribute and take charge.

94


At Goodman’s Fields in

Aldgate, 79% of residents say

they feel happy compared

to an average of 69% of people

living in similar areas.

At Woodberry Down in

Hackney, 84% of residents

feel like they belong compared

to an average of 64% of people

across the UK.

At Kidbrooke Village,

82% of residents are satisfied

with their lives compared to

an average of 49% of

people across London.

95

C O M M U N I T Y

“ In the early stages you need a plan and you need real passion for bringing people together. Not everything works first time. The Community Plan gave us clear direction and clear objectives we could measure. It also mapped out our event programme which is really the glue that connects our community. Now more than half of the events are run directly by residents’ and local businesses provide sponsorship and funding. It’s completely sustainable.”

Marc Gomes, a managing agent for Rendall and Rittner who manage

the estate at Stanmore Place in Harrow.

96


“ We have every kind of people here. Families, retired people, professionals. Some rent, some buy. But people here mix. It doesn’t matter. We all wave and say hello in the street. It makes life better. Now 50-60 people come to the residents’ meetings. There’s nowhere left to sit!”

Sari, a resident at Stanmore Place

in Harrow.

“ We ensure all new arrivals to Royal Wells Park receive a personal welcome from the Residents’ Committee and an invitation to get involved. It’s a pleasure to know so many of our neighbours.” Giles Ellis, who moved to Royal Wells Park in 2014

and now chairs the Residents’ Group.

97

C O M M U N I T Y

Giving back and making a difference to the community.

Berkeley staff raising money for Shelter

Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation for Disabled People

Demelza provides support for children and

young people with life limiting conditions98


Since 2011, the Berkeley Foundation has committed more than £12 million to more than 100 charities and worthy causes.

Berkeley staff climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for Helen and Douglas House

Street Elite festival at Westway Sports Centre

St Edward raised money for The Connection at St Martins in-the-field

99

C O M M U N I T Y

Thank you for sharing our history.

W W W. B ER K ELE YG RO U P.CO.U K

P RO U D M EM B ERS O F TH E B ER K ELE Y G RO U P :

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Our Vision is a plan for the Berkeley Group, designed to make us a modern, world-class business. It contains a series of commitments, renewed every two years, focussing on our customers, homes, places, operations and people.

We are honoured to hold the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for Sustainable Development. This is the UK’s highest accolade for business success, recognising 5 years of continuous achievement. The Berkeley Group is the only British housebuilder to have won this prestigious award twice.

This is a registered charity supporting young people and their communities across London and the South of England. It aims to transform people’s lives in four key areas: homes, jobs, skills and care.

The Berkeley Group Holdings plcBerkeley House

19 Portsmouth Road

Cobham, Surrey

KT11 1JG

www.berkeleygroup.co.uk

people, places, homes and communities · an award-winning ftse 100 company with strong values our...

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