Savills Magazine, Issue 61, 2008

New Homes

Clients who are developing bespoke schemes particularly value the benefits of the power of the Savills brand

Savills offers expert consultancy on the design and marketing of new developments. It specialises in providing bespoke sales and marketing services for clients across a wide variety of new dwellings throughout the UK

Savills has the UK’s leading New Homes consultancy and sales/ marketing service, with 26 teams across the country. Each local business is led by an experienced senior property professional, supported by the Savills network to blend local knowledge with total professionalism.

Understanding clients’ needs lies at the heart of providing the right bespoke advice from the outset, as well as understanding what motivates and excites buyers of new homes. Finding innovative solutions and delivering superior marketing lies at the heart of creating added value, not just identifying buyers but promoting prime developments throughout the UK and abroad.

Clients who are developing bespoke schemes particularly value the benefits of the power of the Savills brand. This works equally well from prime Central London luxury developments to niche regional schemes, and indeed landmark developments throughout the world.

The case study at Snape Maltings, in Suffolk, illustrates the degree of expertise that the New Homes consultancy can offer. This development of residential properties is one of the most exciting renovations in the East of England, and has been carried out sensitively to complement the buildings’ surroundings and heritage.

Contact: David Hines
+44 (0)1202 856 800

The interiors at Snape Maltings will be modern, uncluttered and filled with light

Case Study: Converting Snape Maltings

It was in the middle of the 19th century that businessman Newson Garrett first began malting barley at a site next to the Alde River. Evidently it was a lucrative business, because Snape Maltings grew to become a bustling complex of brick and slate buildings, set within glorious countryside.

By the 1960s, though, as Suffolk’s malting industry died out, Snape Maltings was no longer used for drying grain or brewing beer. Slow decline beckoned. However, the Snape Maltings story is one of triumphant reinvention based around classical music and the arts, a reinvention that has now entered a new phase with a hugely imaginative development of homes within Grade II listed buildings.

This transformation has its roots in the moment when composer Benjamin Britten and tenor Peter Pears realised the largest redundant malthouse could be converted into a concert venue for the renowned Aldeburgh Festival. In June 1967, Queen Elizabeth II opened the Snape Maltings Concert Hall and, since then, the owners of Snape Maltings, the Gooderham family, have gradually converted further buildings to provide high-quality retail space, cafes and galleries.

However, Snape Maltings isn’t just renowned for its social life, it’s also located in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Wetlands and heaths surround the site, and it’s only a few miles from the Suffolk coast. Such a location deserves top-quality homes and that’s precisely what the renovation work at Snape Maltings promises. The brief for the architects on the project, the award-winning Haworth Tompkins, was to design homes that are contemporary yet would fit seamlessly into the old maltings buildings.

The Gooderham family was central to pushing the development ahead. Early on, Richard Aldous, Head of New Homes at Savills Ipswich, advised Haworth Tompkins on the local market and what kinds of properties would sell. Aldous explains more: “I was brought in to look at layouts, sizes, demographics, the kind of thing they should be designing, because initially they were looking at questions such as whether to put flats in, houses in, how to get light into the buildings. The Gooderhams have really seen the whole thing through. Johnny and his wife Alesha have been on a steep learning curve in terms of things like dealing with the architects and planners, but they’ve been dynamite.”

Contact: Richard Aldous
+44 (0)1473 234800

Savills prides itself on providing innovative and creative solutions to market clients’ products and has an unrivalled track record in promoting UK developments overseas

Victorian charm

Phase one of the development, ‘The Courtyard’, a total of 18 two, three and four-bedroom homes around a ‘secret’ central square, shows just how far it’s possible to transform Victorian industrial spaces without losing their essential character. The rooms are airy, there’s underfloor heating, most of the homes have secluded terraces, and natural materials such as lime mortar and bleached oak are much in evidence. “The palette of colours and materials is great,” says Richard Aldous. “Everything is right for the development.”

Phases two and three of the development will be aimed at subtly different markets. The second tranche of homes will be in a quieter area of the site, while the final phase of development is designed to make the most of stunning views across Suffolk wetlands.

“There are things happening all-year round, so there’s the potential to let out the apartments and cottages and get a good return,” says Aldous. A selection of Courtyard Homes are currently available and prices begin at £395,000.