Urban splash expands it's modular portfolio with mansion house

Award-winning regeneration company Urban Splash has announced the addition of a new modular product to its expanding offsite portfolio - Mansion House.

The modular apartment concept, designed by architects shedkm, comes just three years after the launch of its maiden, customisable Town House development at New Islington in Manchester. It is the third modular product in the Urban Splash suite after it unveiled Fab House - two-storey homes designed by George Clarke and TDO Architecture - in North Shields last year.

Mansion House is a medium-rise apartment block comprising six to ten apartments, which will be launched for sale at New Islington; in keeping the buildings small, Urban Splash hopes they will resurrect neighbourly living by home owners who can share and occupy their communal spaces such as lobbies, stairwells and landings.

The homes are created using 2D modular technology by a factory in Bilbao, and come with a number of brilliant design features; dual aspect views are a perk for every occupant, while sustainably sourced cross-laminated timber provides stunning feature walls and ceilings. Used for the main structure and the finish it not only brings a unique aesthetic, but also brings environmental benefits thanks to its insulation performance - retaining heat in winter and letting the building breathe in the summer.

Mansion house is all about space. Extra high ceilings and a dual aspect flood the place with light and provide long views, making the apartments feel spacious in every direction. Add to that each apartment has a generous 8 sq m balcony, and if you're really looking to maximise the sense of space, the two top-floor apartments at Mansion House have an additional 'lantern' that increases the ceiling height to nearly five meters.

Comparisons in Mansion size to average new build apartments are impressive too; with Mansion ceiling heights being 2.84m (compared to a 2.35m average on other new builds), and Mansion door heights of 2.4m versus 2.1m average. Average windows are much smaller too to save on glazing costs - whereas Mansion windows are huge to let in as much natural light as possible - the largest windows are 2m x 2.4m.

Tom Bloxham MBE, Chairman and co-founder of Urban Splash, said: "We are delighted to introduce Mansion House as part of our ever-growing suite of modular homes.

"It is a product which once again challenges design convention and something we believe will redefine the concept of apartment living, creating a series of flexible one and two-bedroom homes which combine state-of-the-art materials and construction with a lifestyle enhancing design."

As with Town House, home owners will be able to choose a layout that suits how they want to live. There are nine flexible apartment layouts to choose from. Centered around the kitchen the apartment options on offer range from a "simple kitchen" layout - where living space is maximized, to an island kitchen and a galley layout, for those who place the kitchen at the heart of the home. Crucially, as with Town House, the inner walls are non load-bearing, meaning that rooms and layouts can be changed as customers desire in the future.

Drawing on the parallels to the Town Houses, Tom Bloxham MBE continued: "Town House has been incredibly well-received, with sites completed, sold out and occupied in Manchester, Salford and North Shields - whilst a fourth site, Port Loop in Birmingham, is now on sale.

"There's a track record which shows that buyers have responded well to what we've created - notably the design, the choices and the future-proof structure which takes away any limitations; we've taken the best of that to create a modular apartment form, something which is a unique residential proposition."

Added Ian Killick, designer at shedkm: "Our starting point for Mansion House was to challenge and rethink the trend towards larger, monolithic and increasingly impersonal apartment blocks and towers springing up in our towns and cities. Instead we have focused on creating great places to live - and, whilst the aesthetics are important - the design of Mansion House blocks mean that we are evoking community living and encouraging neighbourly living."

The first Mansion House apartments will launch for sale early in the summer, just a handful of homes available to buy in the Manchester market. Guy continued: "With so much PRS in the city, there aren't many opportunities to actually purchase in Manchester; Mansion House brings that offer back to buyers who want to establish themselves in the city in a more permanent home."

Situated adjacent to Urban Splash's Town Houses in the heart of New Islington, overlooking the Marina and opposite Cotton Field Park and the OFSTED-Outstanding New Islington Free School, Mansion House is in a prime position. Urban Splash is also the final phase of regeneration at New Islington, which - alongside neighbouring Ancoats - has undergone years of regeneration to become one of the city's most desirable districts.