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The Royal Arsenal Site

Our ten trainees are green but keen to start their new lives in the construction industry, starting here, on a building site alongside the Thames. The Bricking It apartment forms part of BERKELEY HOMES' luxury development at Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, London.

Royal Arsenal Vision
Berkeley Homes started transforming Royal Arsenal in 2001, seven years after English Partnerships had produced their master plan for the regeneration of the area. By the end of the first phase in 2007, 1248 luxury homes will have been built, with a further 3,000 residential units, together with 300,000sq ft of commercial space, restaurants, bars and shops to be completed by 2015.

Over half of the homes at Royal Arsenal are currently being refurbished, where Berkeley Homes is creating a range of period-style townhouses, new and refurbished apartments, all within commuting distance of Canary Wharf and Central London.

Building 36
Building 36 houses the Bricking It apartment. It is part of the Grand Store, which was started in 1806 as part of a large complex of storehouses between the Napoleonic Wars. Replacing the East Laboratory, the buildings were completed in 1813. They were attributed to the architect James Wyatt, the Surveyor of Ordnance, and his brother Lewis, inspired by the great naval storehouses of the eighteenth century.

Internally, Building 36 originally consisted of five rooms, each with three arched openings complete with iron fire doors and a ground floor mezzanine level.

Recycling and restoration
For Bricking It, great care has been taken to ensure that the historic features of the buildings have been retained. Ground contamination, archaeology and the environment were all key concerns before any construction could commence.

Original features retained
Existing materials such as sash windows, timber joists and architraves have been restored wherever possible. Particular attention has been given to retaining existing buildings:

On the first floor of Building 20, a walkway was converted into a stunning feature in the main apartment in the building, appropriately numbered 007. The walkway now overlooks the main living area, with its trusses (structural supportive framework) adding an industrial slant to the apartment.
The building exterior were washed and not blasted.
Where war damage had been inflicted, bricks used in the repair work were matched and then covered in soot, to replicate 150 years of weathering.
Where necessary, original slate roofs were repaired or replaced using Spanish slate for authenticity.
Some of the glass in the remaining sash windows was original and was kept, even when the sash frames themselves were replaced with new versions.

The history of the site (1600–1900)

Woolwich became the main storage area for the Crown's military supplies from 1667
It was a strategic military location: gunpowder, guns and ammunition were made here from the late seventeenth century
The main arsenal factory was renamed The Royal Arsenal Woolwich by King George III in 1805
The Woolwich Dockyard played an integral part in the foundation of the King's navy, followed by a storehouse and gunyard that also houses weapons seized by Sir Francis Drake
The Royal Arsenal site continued to extend, with buildings such as the Royal Carriage Department. When the Crimean War began, new steam-powered machinery was installed
New technology continued to be used when the site was utilised during the Boer War, producing munitions to meet military demands

The redevelopment of the area 1901–2020

At the start of the First World War, more than 80,000 people worked at the Royal Arsenal factories and storehouses.
When the Second World War ended, demand for armaments dropped dramatically and the Arsenal site began its decline.
From the 1970s, Woolwich was labelled 'a disadvantaged area' with high unemployment. The Royal Arsenal's regeneration was fundamental to improving the area's prosperity.
Berkeley Homes started Britain's foremost regeneration project in 2001 with the London Development Agency.
The latest planning application will provide 3,000 new homes and 300,000sqft of commercial space including a cinema, 120-bedroom hotel, bars and restaurants, complete with amenity space, parkland and riverside promenade.
The project will generate an estimated 1,000 permanent jobs and 500 construction jobs.
As part of their plans, Berkeley Homes will be providing a new apprenticeship scheme to encourage young people to enter the construction industry, the first of its kind in the capital, which will also help to further stimulate the local economy. More about apprenticeships>

About Berkeley Homes, Property Developer

Founded in 1976, Berkeley Homes is the largest division of the Berkeley Group plc, a FTSE 250 company
A leading urban regenerator, Berkeley Homes transforms derelict brownfield sites into award-winning residential and mixed use developments. It always takes into consideration environmental and local community needs
The company has a turnover of over £500 million and in 2003 completed over 1,800 units
Working in partnership with planning authorities, consultants, local and environmental groups and customers, Berkeley Homes identifies exciting new markets and explores the latest building techniques, materials and finishes to create cutting-edge developments

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