Athletes Village

About this project

The development brief required that City Legacy deliver 700 homes, including 300 homes for sale, all of which would be constructed in a depressed market, several years in advance of any sales or projected sales values being confirmed. This requirement faced the constraints of existing site infrastructure, and the need to reconcile the specific requirements for initial use as accommodation for 6,500 athletes and officials for a two-week period, which would incorporate City Legacy’s preferred mix of house types based on sales projections and the requirements of housing associations.

Added to that, the site of the Athletes’ Village development was previously a contaminated and disused brownfield site. The entire Athletes’ Village site (88 acres) was thoroughly remediated and is now home to an eco-friendly Village and City Legacy has excelled in this challenge – transforming the area into a stunning new riverside location which is unrecognisable and now highly desirable. Twelve house types are spread across the site comprising 1 and 2 bedroom apartments and 2,3 and 4 bedroom terraced houses.

The Village lies only three miles from the city centre, yet is set amongst an abundance of green space and next to superb sports and recreational facilities, including the Emirates Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome. It is extremely accessible, thanks to the newly redeveloped Dalmarnock Station with fast and frequent train services to the city centre.

The homes, as well as the adjacent sports arenas, are powered by a state-of-the-art district heating system which supplies instantaneous heat and constant hot water. The system is approximately 30% – 40% more efficient than conventional heating schemes, providing residents with substantial cost benefits. Alongside a Fabric First Approach to housing design as well as the use of solar PV panels, this contributed to a 95% carbon reduction on 2007 levels.

Use of Timber

CCG was responsible for the design of all of the development’s house types and led the construction of 237 of the new homes. CCG OSM’s iQ enhanced closed panel timber system, inclusive of insulation, service zones and pre-installed windows and door screens that were also manufactured by CCG, was used for the construction.

Clear span floor and roof cassettes were installed to create open-plan arrangements and flexible living space with home grown Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) used in the structural walls achieving a wall U-Value rating of 0.12.

As the Commonwealth Games had a fixed start date, site management was crucial in the delivery of the housing. The use of the CCG OSM timber system enabled full construction delivery within 15 months, a 7 month advance on the construction programme with a typical terrace of 8 townhouses constructed, wind and water tight, in just 10 days. The applied use of ‘Modern Methods of Construction’ ensured that the 700 homes were collectively complete in 700 days.

City Legacy’s outstanding sales effort led to the full sale of the 300 private homes within an 18 month period with the affordable housing at the Village now being managed by Glasgow Housing Association (GHA), West of Scotland and Thenue Housing Association.

Contract Value: £150 million

Awards: Winner of 25 industry awards

Accreditations: Ecohomes ‘Excellent’ rating