A former prison site in Portsmouth has found a new purpose, in a combination of new build and refurbishment for a ‘tenure blind’ mix of luxury flats and affordable homes – by two housebuilders. Roseanne Field reports
Located on one of the main three roads running through Portsmouth, the former Kingston Prison had been left derelict since its closure in 2013.
Despite being purchased in 2014 by developer City and Country, a long road of planning issues and debate over what should be done with the site lay ahead.
Several ideas were discussed, with the developer initially suggesting a museum, before then proposing an exclusively private residential development. However, with housing waiting lists high in the city Portsmouth City Council insisted affordable housing must be included within the proposed development.
City and Country had originally purchased the site as part of a portfolio of 10 prisons it was looking to redevelop. However, getting the numbers to stack up on this particular site to justify developing it was proving difficult, particularly with the council standing firm that it must include affordable housing. On top of this, the main prison building – built in 1877 – as well as various elements around it are Grade II listed.
South east-based affordable housing provider VIVID had caught wind of the discussions, with Portsmouth being one of their target areas. “We track developments in that area, looking for opportunities where we can step in,” explains VIVID group development and new business director, Tristan Samuels.
VIVID is a registered provider (RP) and developer, with around 36,000 homes currently under management and 80 projects under development. The team keep abreast of ongoing projects and planning applications, simultaneously building a good working relationship with local authorities. With development being “a bit of a luxury” for RPs according to Samuels, he credits VIVID’s success to the successful management of their existing stock.
As well as keeping an eye on upcoming developments, the company looks at locations where the housing need is high. Portsmouth and its surrounding areas, including Gosport and Southampton, are areas VIVID is particularly interested in, due to their unique mix of characteristics. “They’re what we describe as northern cities on the south coast,” explains Samuels. “They’re low value areas, with high need, but the build costs are in line with the rest of Hampshire so they’re quite hard to make work.”
It was this that gave them their ‘in’ on the Kingston Place development, with the local authority – Portsmouth City Council – and City and Country at a bit of a stalemate. “City and Country said they couldn’t deliver affordable housing because of the value, so we stepped in and said we’d take it on,” Samuels explains. “Being an RP, we were able to show we weren’t just there to make a profit. We’re here because there’s a social and community value asset. They trusted we were going to do what we said we were going to do.”
A mix of tenures
The overall Kingston Place development comprises the new build elements that VIVID, working in partnership with housebuilder Drew Smith (part of Vistry Group) completed, making up the affordable housing portion, and the 83 luxury apartments that were sold privately, completed by St Cross Homes. The private apartments are within the former prison building, while
VIVID’s affordable housing is exclusively new build.
The former prison sits at the centre of the site with four new build elements located around the perimeter within the listed prison walls, and one building constructed outside on the former prison car park. In total VIVID built 183 new homes, 110 of which were for social rent and 73 shared ownership. The blocks vary in height with the largest standing at seven storeys, and the flats are all either one or two bedroom.
Planning the landscaping on the site was divided between VIVID and St Cross Homes, with VIVID ensuring all their flats would overlook a courtyard-style green space. However while green space was important, it was also essential to the company that every flat had at least one parking space, with parking in the city being “one of Portsmouth’s biggest problems,” Samuels says. While the parking provision takes up what could have been green space, he explains how it wasn’t the primary focus with the site backing on to the large Kingston Cemetery. “It was more about ensuring the development was fit for purpose and had usable space internally, noting that they had plenty of space to go just outside the wall.”
When deciding on both unit and bedroom numbers, VIVID works closely with the council while also “thinking about it from a mixed and balanced community perspective,” Samuels explains. The company engages with the council, taking note of what their current housing needs are, as well as what the planners want, and what it feels offers the best mix of tenures. “We’re thinking about what families in there want – communities that support each other. If you get all single living people, you don’t really get that.”
With the shared ownership units – all of which were reserved before the development was completed – Samuels says VIVID looks at what’s selling well in the local market. “That’s definitely more demand-led.” The overall number of units for the entire development was also somewhat controlled by Historic England and what they would allow within the confines of the listed structures, as well as what would work for VIVID with the Homes England grant funding they received.
The company is a strategic partner with Homes England, which allows them to utilise grant funding by bidding on an amount and explaining what percentage will be used for social rent and what percentage for shared ownership. “It’s a good position and we value that relationship with Homes England because it allows us to make decisions quickly,” explains Samuels. As a general rule on grant funded schemes, VIVID aims to split the funding by putting two thirds towards social rent and one third to shared ownership, while then also incorporating a mix of private tenures to create “mixed and balanced communities.”
A complex site
As well as the prison building and walls, the former engineers’ workshop and entrance complex – comprising a gate tower, detached gate piers and the Chief Warder’s and Governor’s houses – are also Grade II listed, and justifiably so: “It’s a special building,” says Samuels. However, this coupled with its use as a maximum security prison meant they didn’t know what they might find, both within the building and the grounds. “Everyone was on tenterhooks for most of that,” Samuels admits.
The site itself, in particular the constraints of working within the prison walls, was one of the project’s biggest challenges. “It’s a very restrictive space, so trying to work in a very tight environment, with all the site compounds and everything, proved to be quite tricky from a logistics perspective,” explains Samuels. The listed walls meant entrances to the site couldn’t be widened so getting HGVs on and offsite required a one-way system.
The design of the new build was heavily influenced by the historic prison building, both in terms of overall aesthetic but also regarding heights and the overall site layout. “We had to figure out where we could put height and how you could move around the buildings as there were views through the existing gate and entrances that they were looking to protect,” Samuels explains.
There was some general remediation work with ground contamination being a regular obstacle in this area, says Samuels. However, this didn’t cause too much of a headache as the construction didn’t involve digging down too deep, with all parking at ground level. “The cost of basement parking on a site without high values just doesn’t work,” he explains.
The site also had an impact on the materials used in the construction, and a subtle approach was called for. “It’s one of those sites where we couldn’t have got away with anything too flamboyant,” Samuels says. A few of the walls had to be temporarily altered to allow for construction to take place, under the condition that the replacement blocks would be identical to the originals, down to where they were sourced from. The new build elements were constructed using a Metsec frame and a brick facade, with the brick chosen to contrast with yet complement the cladding on the original buildings.
Although working with Historic England can involve a lot of back and forth, Samuels says that on schemes such as Kingston Place “you can absolutely see the value and it looks really good.
We have a high quality and attractive scheme that we can all be proud of.”
Putting residents first
VIVID puts a focus on prioritising the safety as well as comfort of residents, and sustainability and security were both key. All VIVID schemes are now designed with PV panels as standard, although the Kingston Place scheme was designed before they brought this into practice. The development includes gas boilers and each unit has an EPC B rating. By 2030 the company intends to upgrade all its existing stock to EPC C, and by 2050 it aims to have implemented its carbon zero plan.
As well as pushing for a higher EPC rating, Samuels explains the company tends to prioritise a fabric first approach to increasing buildings’ performance. “If they perform well but wouldn’t get an A we’re happy that from an emissions perspective they’re high performing.” As well as including PVs, VIVID also now uses air source heat pumps as standard and insulates beyond the levels required by Building Control, as is the case at Kingston Place.
Every apartment includes fibre broadband and is well ventilated. “We think about the quality of the build and design life,” says Samuels. “I think the most important thing is they are ‘tenure blind’ – you wouldn’t look at our schemes and say ‘that’s affordable,’ the quality is the same.”
The company also prioritises choosing a good design life when choosing individual products, and Samuels explains how focusing on little things can be just as important in creating a happy environment for everyone. “Bin stores and things like that are where you can get problems if you get it wrong, that’s where you’ll get anti-social behaviour and issues with how the building is used,” he says. The company also considers elements such as front door security, windows with safety latches for children, balustrade locations and widths, and even things like pigeon netting. “You’re thinking longer term about the wellbeing of the families and communities – if you can get it right early on then people will own it, they’re proud of the space and that makes a big difference.”
The development was finished in October 2023, after a brief delay towards the end of the project due to site logistics and getting final things such as Section 278 works tied up. Samuels says overall it was one of the more complicated projects the company has worked on, due not only to the logistical issues but also because this project was an anomaly for VIVID in that they took on the D&B contract, usually preferring to work with various partners to develop schemes.
With residents having been in the apartments for almost a year, Samuels admits there hasn’t been a huge amount of feedback from them: “when residents are happy, they don’t want to talk to us!” There have been a few minor snagging issues with things such as door locks but, he says, the way housing providers react to that is just as important. Drew Smith as a construction brand was shut down and there were some staff redundancies which has affected them closing out the defects in a timely manner..”
Overall, Samuels believes VIVID’s “partnering approach” was key to getting this complex project over the line. “We work closely with all the local authorities in our area and have strong relationships with most of them,” he says. “Local authorities and registered providers like us have similar values, the outcome we want is the same – good quality housing that’s affordable
for local people. By working with Portsmouth to get this through we’ve got a brilliant product that they’re proud of as much as we are.”