Project Details

Axis Europe was employed by London and Quadrant (L&Q) to complete a programme of external property services in Rochester, Kent. The project involved work across various brick-built properties and terrace blocks housing 23 residents, these included Lock House and the Five Bells Estate (Kingfisher Court and Robin Court). The location of each property lies within one of South East England’s famous conservation areas.

We have been working in partnership with our trusted clients L&Q for nearly 10 years. These planned and cyclical works come after previous projects that we have delivered for the housing association, such as their recent cyclical decorations contract for 2020/2021. Our Housing Division took on a mixed scope of works that was dependent on each property.

We began the project at Lock House with asbestos removal and roof renewal. Next, the team renewed the facias, soffits on the properties – this work came alongside the restoration of the rainwater goods and guttering. Equally important was the provision of decorations to the building. Our team then replaced all of the windows in a sash style with PVCu sliders, this was necessary due to the conservation nature of the area. We finished work at Lock House with the renewal of doors.

For each of the other three properties identified in the project, we delivered a programme of window renewals. Our external property services work at the Five Bells location was also unique in its nature. This was due to the colour of the casement PVCu windows, which had to be retained. Again, this was because of the property lying within a conservation area.

We also carried out similar works to the remaining three properties in concerns to the soffits and facias which were restored. This came alongside our maintenance of rainwater goods, as well as door renewals and cyclical decorations. Our team utilised cherry pickers and scaffolding throughout the project. We used this machinery to ensure safe and high-quality workmanship could be attained to the taller parts of
each building. Our Resident Liason Officer carried out satisfaction surveys and received overwhelmingly positive feedback. We had
100% resident satisfaction.

Project Challenges

During these external property services, our team faced a couple of challenges throughout the project, chiefly being caused by COVID-19. The pandemic brought delays to the completion of the work, however, there were also challenges faced due to adverse weather. We lost a week of time because of a cold snap that occurred in February.

We overcome these challenges by having regular upfront conversations with L&Q. This enabled all parties to be regularly updated and allowed us to achieve our joint goal of successfully completing the works by late February – a tribute to the perseverance of our team.

Take a look at more of our housing sector projects, here.

Project Feedback

Axis have carried out works to Lock House & Five Bells Estate to a very high standard whilst keeping our residents updated along the way with zero complaints received which backs up the good work by the Axis team on the ground. Our residents now have warmer homes due to the UPVC double glazed windows installed whilst at the same time reducing the need for ongoing maintenance works to the properties over the coming years. The contract has also come in within the budget tolerance with only a 1% increase on the original £317k gross budget which shows the financial awareness of the project team.” – Mark Cullern, Portfolio Manager, L&Q.