There were nearly 300 entries for the awards this year and 250 organisations shortlisted, so we are really pleased to successfully make it to the Finals and in such good company.

Reaching the finals is testament to the dedication and hard work of the whole Aqua team and flying the flag for building a future in Gloucestershire.

Good luck to all finalists and see you at the Awards Evening in July.

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A former office building, Gloucester City Council assisted with determining the change of use planning application to repurpose Hewmar House into an 8-bedroom supported housing development for young people.

Working closely with Quattro Architects and Gloucester Building Control on the technical detail of the works, the conversion will create homes and opportunities for young, homeless people.

With investment from Homes England, and in partnership with Gloucester City Council, Gloucester City Homes secured £1.34 million funding from the Single Homeless Accommodation Programme (SHAP).

The conversion works include structural repairs, re-roofing, external wall insulation and render, new heating, electric, solar panels, new plasterwork, and decoration throughout and the forming of a communal kitchen, communal lounge, staff office and 8 bedrooms with shower rooms.

Work commenced 4 weeks ago to clear the site and in parallel carry out a soft stripping of the interior of the building. Scaffold has just been erected with the stripping of the roof due to commence shortly. Thanks to a helpful neighbour to allow scaffold to be erected on their property to undertake some of the works.

In support of the project, Richard Graham, MP for Gloucester, said: “GCH has a strong proven track record of delivery of high-quality homes in Gloucester and successfully manage several cohort-specific schemes. They hold an important partnership with the local authority, providing properties and support to tackle homelessness, and this already includes schemes to support homeless young people and rough sleepers.”

Aqua is excited about working in partnership with GCH on such a worthy project.

Works is scheduled to be completed in November 2024.

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As a Gloucestershire construction company, Aqua builds residential properties for private clients and homes for social rent and shared ownership, across the county. Its recently completed affordable development on Northgate Street for Gloucester City Homes has attracted much attention as part of the city’s £104m regeneration programme.

These two nominations are a testament to Aqua’s company-wide effort and passion that underpins the teams success.

Proudly, the company has gone above and beyond to achieve great results and its strongest financial year.

The Small Business of the Year award for firms with under 50 employees recognises business strength and robustness. The journey from humble beginnings over 25 years ago, through the pandemic and severe challenges that hit the building industry, has allowed Aqua to adapt and grow while adhering to core values of excellence in construction and service.

The nomination for Property & Construction is based on our many years of delivering outstanding, well-designed projects, on budget and on time, for both the private and public sectors. Robust financials highlight commitment to growing a successful business that the whole team can be proud of.

Our success comes from established partnerships, a strong Gloucestershire network, innovation in design, quality construction and service.

The C2S awards are in their second year and aim to recognise and celebrate the hard work and achievement of businesses in Gloucestershire across 17 categories.

Good luck to all businesses that have been shortlisted as we head towards the July finals.

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On the brownfield site, former Stoate & Bishop print works, Aqua Construction has completed an impressive five-storey apartment building that comprise 25 apartments for social rent including retail space to the ground floor.

This project marks Aqua Construction’s 22nd project in partnership with Gloucester City Homes.

Aqua Construction acquired the land through Ash & Co Chartered Surveyors and further developed the design with Quattro Design Architects and Gloucester City Council’s planning department, to manage the project through to finished construction. The design features strong links to existing architecture in King’s Quarter.

Northgate Street is one of the four original Roman streets in Gloucester and remains the truest of all four gate streets to its ancient form, although the streetscape has changed down the centuries.

The site holds significant historic importance and involved working in close partnership with the City Archaeologist, archaeological consultants Cotswold Archaeology of Cirencester and structural engineering firm, O’Brien & Price (Stroud), to develop an engineering solution to protect the medieval and roman remains. A specialist piling rig, of which only two exist in Europe, was brought in to excavate the 14m-deep piled foundations that use protective casings to preserve the medieval and roman assets that lay beneath the site.

The 263sq.m of gold coloured vertical cladding forms a major aesthetic feature of the building and sits below the sustainable green roof which delivers inner city environmental benefits. The 124-tonne steel frame building is highly insulated for energy efficiency.

During the 22 months build programme, Aqua worked with 45 contractors employing over 380 workers, equating to a staggering 58,000 person-hours. During the intensive seven-month brick and block laying phase 78,000 bricks and 30,000 concrete blocks were used.

Again, drawing on the location, the embossed patterns on the balconies replicate features seen in nearby Gloucester Cathedral’s cloisters. The city centre location encourages the use of local transport services and boasts a cleverly designed bike storage for residents.

Aqua is proud that over 90% were either local labour or local suppliers to the project from across Gloucestershire, transforming the original 650sq.m site into a gross floor area of 1930 sq.m.

Jason Wasley, managing director of Aqua Construction, said: “It has been fantastic to work on such a key building central to the regeneration of the city. The team is exceptionally proud to have been involved and it highlights how far we have come as a construction company. It showcases what Aqua can deliver in such a prestigious location.

“The project is testament to the ongoing partnerships Aqua has with Gloucester City Homes, the architect and the planning department, also many local suppliers, sub-contractors, and trades throughout the county.

“We believe that affordable, quality homes in well-designed places are key to improving people’s lives. In a bid to accelerate the pace of house building and regeneration across Gloucestershire, we are proud to construct homes in areas that people are proud to live in.”

Derek Gibbs, construction director added: “It has been a very technical build from the foundations up, working around historic archaeological remains on site and designing the 124-tonnes steel frame. The result is an impressive building at the heart of the city, uplifting the area and adding to the regeneration of the King’s Quarter.”

Michael Hill, executive director of customer experience at GCH said: “It is a proud moment for GCH to launch Northgate Mansions at such a key site in the city. Truly affordable housing like this improves health and education outcomes and enhances overall community stability and well-being.  And because these homes are right in the city centre, with rail and transport links literally on the doorstep, they are ideal for modern, sustainable living. These new homes will open doors for employment inside and outside the city.”

Councillor Richard Cook, leader of Gloucester City Council, said: “We are committed to increasing the number of affordable homes in the city as part of the multi-million pound regeneration taking place across Gloucester.  These new apartments, a key part of the Forum project, will go some way to achieving that along with the new urban village at St Oswald’s that will see 100 homes for social rent, and 100 sold under shared ownership.”

The development was completed on schedule and handed over to the client, GCH, in March 2024. Residents have already moved in to all 25 apartments and the retail unit to the ground floor has been let to a local gentlemen’s hairdressing business.

In the last five years, Aqua Construction has delivered over 200 new homes in the Gloucester community.

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Aqua Construction was again invited to tender competitively for the Bishop’s Cleeve project to build 28 affordable homes for local people.  The build contract is valued at £5.3m.

This new development will comprise 28 properties (10 apartments and 18 houses) in a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom homes for social rent and shared ownership.

The works comprised the demolition of 20 existing maisonettes and garages which commenced in November 2023 with the first foundations poured in January 2024.

With sustainability in mind, the roof tiles, concrete, brick and blockwork arising from the demolition works were crushed, recycled and re-used on site to form temporary road surfaces and hard standings around the site.

Crown Close features a contemporary design, in keeping with the nearby Rooftop development at Pember Close, Bishop’s Drive. The scheme blends a traditional build with a modern design, featuring facing brickwork and saw-tooth pitched roofs to reflect the former character of the area, finished with standing seam metal roofs. The houses boast larger than usual living areas for modern living.

The energy-efficient dwellings comply with current Part L Building Regulations and will achieve Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) A rating, including ‘A’ rated gas condensing boilers, roof mounted solar PV panels to reduce space and water heating costs, and electric vehicle charging points.

Retained trees will be combined with new specimen trees and shrubs to create appealing landscaping and a communal seating area. A sustainable permeable paving drainage system will be incorporated into the parking and public pathways for rainwater run-off.

Mark Ramdehal, head of development at Rooftop Housing Group said, “We are proud to be making a difference in Bishop’s Cleeve; this is our second redevelopment within the area in the last three years and signifies our ongoing commitment to providing quality, sustainable, energy-efficient affordable housing for the local community.

“It’s another opportunity for us to work with local building contractor Aqua Construction, and we’d also like to thank both Tewkesbury Borough Council and Homes England, who have provided grant funding to support the delivery of the scheme.”

Jason Wasley, managing director at Aqua Construction, said: “This exciting redevelopment represents our second project for Rooftop who are specialists in delivering affordable housing schemes in South Worcestershire and North Gloucestershire. We are proud that construction work is progressing well out the ground, as we head towards completion in spring 2025.

“On site our team is working hard to deliver these homes to the highest standard. We pride ourselves on transforming sites and creating sustainable communities where people can be proud to live and work. We look forward to continuing our work and successful partnership with Rooftop Housing Group.”

Photo L to R: Laurence Aston – head of new development, Aqua Construction ; Mark Ramdehal – head of development, Rooftop Housing; Lisa Arnold – senior development officer, Rooftop Housing; Ian Dowdeswell – senior surveyor, Aqua Construction; Craig King – construction manager, Aqua Construction; Derek Gibbs – construction director, Aqua Construction

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On the brownfield site, former Stoate & Bishop print works, Aqua Construction are constructing an impressive five-storey apartment building with 25 units for social rent including some retail space on the ground floor.

The 16 two-bed and nine one-bed flats are Aqua’s 21st project in partnership with Gloucester City Homes. Over the years, the company has delivered over 180 homes for the housing association.

Northgate Street is one of the four original Roman streets in Gloucester and remains the truest of all four gate streets to its ancient form, although the streetscape has changed down the centuries.

Aqua Construction acquired the land through Ash & Co Chartered Surveyors.

The site holds significant historic importance and involved working in close partnership with the City Archaeologist, archaeological consultants Cotswold Archaeology of Cirencester and structural engineering firm, O’Brien & Price (Stroud) who developed an engineering solution to protect the medieval and Roman remains.

Jason Wasley, Managing Director of Aqua Construction, said: “It is fantastic to work on such a key building central to the regeneration of the city. All the team are proud ‘to be involved and it highlights how far we have come as a company to be involved in such a prestigious project.

“It’s not been easy, as it’s a very technical build from the foundation design working around archaeological remains on site, right through to designing the steel frame.”

Guy Stenson, Chief Executive of Gloucester City Homes, recently told Punchline-Gloucester: “Our new Northgate development will create quality new social rent homes, jobs for local people and investment in the city.

“Every one of us, regardless of our circumstances and situation deserves a place we can be proud to call home, a home we can afford to heat, where we feel safe and where we can put down roots and live our best lives.

“That’s why we are passionate at GCH about playing our role to tackle the housing crisis and bring quality, affordable new homes to Gloucester.”

The development is scheduled for completion in March 2024.

*Image credit: Quattro Design Architects.

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Formerly a stable block, the development comprises two contemporary and spacious Cotswold stone detached homes, built to a high specification in keeping with the rural environment.

Aqua Construction worked closely with Cotswold District Council and Apex Architecture to design and build a cottage style 4-bedroom house and a barn style 4-bedroom dwelling with a paddock set in two acres.

Read more about this development here. 

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The new development will comprise 28 properties (flats and houses) for social rent and shared ownership.

Demolition of the existing flats is nearing completion, undertaken by Smiths Demolition,  with the foundation excavation to commence during November 2023.

Crown Close features a contemporary design, as seen at another nearby Rooftop development located at Bishops Drive; also constructed by Aqua Construction.

Crown Close completion is April 2025.

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Construction of the 2.no three-bedroom and 2.no four-bedroom terraced houses and 6.no two-bedroom apartments commenced in October 2022 and completed in October 2023.

Jason Wasley, Managing Director of Aqua Construction commented: “The Robinswood Inn project marks our 20^th completed housing development for Gloucester City Homes. To date, we have proudly delivered 156 new homes for GCH in the past six years.”

Read more about this development here.

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Here at Aqua we have been keen supporters of local grass roots rugby throughout a number of years. You can imagine how delighted we were when the Directors son showed an interest and talent in the sport.

After having been involved with Spartans RFU for a while we were eager to support the club by providing new essential kit and equipment that is vital for a growing, successful team. We can’t wait to watch this group of lads progress and flourish.

Not only are they a fantastic bunch to watch; we believe rugby is the ultimate character building sport to increase their self confidence, respect and teamwork.

Perhaps you too will enjoy watching one of their games someday!

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