The development was a low budget apartment block that could primarily provide housing for a lower socio-economic demographic. With this in mind, the client required a cost-effective job that minimised the construction, maintenance and running costs while providing an appealing place for future residents to live.

To keep costs at an absolute minimum, our team identified certain areas of the design that could be rationalised to achieve the clients’ goals and targets. A major feature of the design was following a strict brief that detailed the standardised fixtures to be used throughout the complex, which ensured economies of scale could be achieved.

Like any commercial building, there were many features that would be universal across all units. These included access control, CCTV, intruder detection, remote alarm monitoring and electronic access. Our design allowed for metering of all communal areas and then individual metering of each apartment. The development was also energy efficient with only a few select areas being lit 24 hours, seven days a week and motion sensors installed in staircases and access corridors in a bid to save energy.

Our team met the brief and the client’s expectations by following their instructions to the letter, meaning there were no unexpected surprises or cost overruns. The developer benefited immensely from DMA’s ownership and transparency – they knew exactly what they could expect from the design and got exactly what they wanted from our specification and documentation. The finished result was a modern and comfortable apartment complex that met the needs of its target residential market.