Lovell and Cardiff Council celebrate ‘topping out’ of first apartment block at community living scheme in St Mellons

Leading partnerships developer Lovell and Cardiff Council have hosted a ‘topping out’ ceremony, to celebrate the roof being installed on the first apartment block at the St Mellons Community Living Project, which will provide high-quality, independent living accommodation for older people.

Situated on Crickhowell Road, on the site of the former Youth and Community Centre, the £17.2m development will deliver a total of 60 one and two-bedroom, self-contained apartments for social rent, that will be built to high sustainability standards, powered by a communal heating system and benefit from solar panels.

The site will also be home to a wide range of communal facilities, including activity rooms, residents’ lounges, a health suite, landscaped gardens, electric scooter charging points and bicycle storage. The scheme will form part of the St Mellons District Centre and be within walking distance of local shopping facilities and the St Mellons Hub.

‘Topping out’ is a construction milestone celebrated in the industry when the highest point of a building is installed. The first apartment block has now reached this stage, and work is well underway on the remaining blocks.

Construction work on the whole project, which is being built by Lovell as a design and build scheme, is due to be completed in summer 2025. Over the course of the project 884 apprenticeship weeks will be provided, and Lovell will be injecting circa £350,000 worth of social value into the St Mellons community.

James Duffett, regional managing director at Lovell, said: “We are very proud that our site team has now installed the roof of the first apartment block and achieved the highest part of the structure at the St Mellons Community Living project, and are honoured to be celebrating this milestone with our longstanding partner Cardiff Council.

“For decades we have been transforming brownfield sites into sustainable and thriving new communities, and we are excited to be bringing this same mission to St Mellons. We are committed to providing future residents with homes that they can be proud to call theirs and with unrivalled communal facilities, and we will continue to hold ourselves to the highest standards as we bring this site to life.”

Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities at Cardiff Council, Cllr Lynda Thorne, said: “The Council has plans for a range of new older person’s accommodation across the city including more Community Living Schemes like this one. We were delighted to launch the first one to be completed, Addison House, not too far from St Mellons, on Newport Road in Rumney at the end of last year.

“Like Addison House, this new scheme in St Mellons will respond directly to the needs identified in our Older Persons’ housing strategy, ultimately creating a great place to live for older people in the community.

“We’re very pleased to be working with Lovell on this exciting, low carbon project that will not only contribute to our target of creating 4,000 new homes in Cardiff, but also supports our One Planet Cardiff vision to be a carbon neutral city by 2030.”

Lovell is a leading provider of partnership housing and has been building communities for over 50 years. For more information, visit https://corporate.lovell.co.uk/.