King Street Car Park
Maidstone Borough Council
About the project
Maidstone Borough Council and Maidstone Property Holdings, has been working with ZED Pods to design an innovative, low-carbon, highly energy-efficient housing development aimed at creating a mixed tenure affordable housing scheme in Maidstone town centre. The scheme seeks to utilise the ‘airspace’ over the existing King Street Car Park, whilst retaining the parking spaces beneath — thus delivering an excellent solution to making an efficient use of land, retaining parking capacity for visitors to the town centre, contributing to the challenge of delivering sustainable development and contributing to meeting local housing need.
It is a pioneering environmental and socially focused development which will deliver much-needed living space for young professionals, keyworkers and vulnerable households in need of affordable housing.
Site Location
Project Team

Maidstone Property Holdings Ltd
Real Estate

ZED Pods Ltd
Architects
Key Principles:
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Activating under-utilised land within a highly accessible town centre location.
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Delivering sustainable and energy-efficient homes aimed at meeting the needs of local Maidstone residents.
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16 new homes consisting of a mix of 1 and 2-bed apartments (of which 6 will be offered as social rent).
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All apartments will meet Nationally prescribed space standard with most, having access to private amenity space
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All apartments are super-insulated, airtight homes with minimal energy demand to ensure the lowest possible running costs.
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Solar power generation to provide low-energy water/heating — annual production will generate more energy than the development consumes.
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The apartments will be delivered fully furnished with A-rated appliances fixtures and LED lighting throughout.
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Robust party wall construction performance to achieve fire ratings to comply with Building Regulations and a Fire Safety Plan.
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The proposal will activate the site, improve the street scene and improvements to the boundary with planting.
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The solar panels combined with the DER improvements should result in 100% offset of regulated carbon emission — creating a net-zero development.
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The proposed design will enable parking underneath the apartments, with ample lighting.
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Enabling upgrading of existing car parking services at no cost to the Council
Project Timeline
Develop Business Case
Review Project Risks
Review Project Budget
Undertook Site Appraisals

Completed

Project Brief approved by the Council
Undertook Feasibility Studies
Agree on Project Budget
Prepare Project Programme

Completed
Completed

Architectural Concept approved by the Council and aligned to the Project Brief
Obtain pre-application Planning Advice
Initial Cost Plan

Completed

Planning application to be submitted
2021 - To be confirmed

Completed

Construction off-site to minimise disruption and site installation

Completed

Upcoming — Preparing to Submit our Planning Application
Building handed over to the Council

Completed

Residents move in

Completed

Spring 2020/21 • In Progress
We will provide a further update to our website in the next couple of weeks when we have a more precise date for submitting the application, and we will inform the local community before any application is submitted.
Online Exhibition — Take a look into our high-quality home
Our Vision
Building Low Carbon Future
Tell us what matters to you about housing delivery in Maidstone.
We are seeking public comments to understand how the community feels about the proposed development and to identify ways in which we can better meet community needs.
Community Notice Board
Coming soon...

Feedback
We are preparing to submit our application to Maidstone Borough Council.
In the meantime, our project team is on hand to answer any questions you may have. Please feel free to get in touch at any time.