From car park to housing the homeless

From car park to cottages, Shawe View in Trafford combines architectural sensitivity with a strong social purpose.

BTP Architects has completed work on apartments for people moving on from homelessness or rough sleeping towards independent living. Built in partnership with MSV Housing and Trafford Council, and part-funded with a £741,000 grant from Homes England, the new Shawe View scheme in Urmston provides 12 fully-furnished one-bedroom homes.

Typically, residents will live at Shawe View for two years before moving on. Homes will be allocated through Housing Options Service Trafford, the council’s housing support team, and offered at low-cost social rent. This gives local people a high-quality and affordable stepping stone before moving into permanent accommodation. New residents will be those who have already engaged successfully with support services and are ready to work with their appointed support worker. Shawe View has been built and managed along the lines of other existing move-on schemes MSV runs in Manchester.

The project is also an example of bringing underused land back into beneficial use as the site used to be a car park. Elliot Denby, Director at BTP Architects, says: “Transforming an underused car park into homes shows how we can create homes and reimagine how we use areas in a way that directly benefits local people and communities.”

Wellbeing of residents

Shawe View is the first move-on accommodation in Trafford. Given its purpose, it would have been understandable if the homes were simply utilitarian, yet that was not BTP Architects’ approach.

The cottage-style apartments meet national space standards and feature individual front doors, generous natural light and a sympathetic brick and stone palette – inspired by the neighbouring Shawe View Terrace to complement the surrounding residential area.

Denby says: “We wanted Shawe View to feel like part of the existing neighbourhoods, not an add-on, creating a space where residents can feel a real sense of pride and belonging. More importantly, these homes provide opportunity for people taking their next step towards stability and independent living.”

Additional features include a landscaped green buffer and secure cycle storage, keeping sustainability and resident wellbeing at its heart.

Charlie Norman, Chief Executive of MSV Housing Group, says: “A warm, safe home is the springboard to a stable and healthy life. The opening of Shawe View marks a significant step forward in supporting homeless people in the borough and shows how working together can make a real difference, creating environments where people can flourish.”

For further information, visit btparchitects.co.uk

Image credit | Neil Alexander Downie