Oxley Woods is a housing development in Oxley Park, a district of

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The development was designed by

Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners Rogers may refer to: Places Canada *Rogers Pass (British Columbia) * Rogers Island (Nunavut) United States * Rogers, Arkansas, a city * Rogers, alternate name of Muroc, California, a former settlement * Rogers, Indiana, an unincorporated communit ...

and built by Newton Woods, who were subcontracted by

Taylor Wimpey Taylor Wimpey plc (formerly Taylor Woodrow plc) is one of the largest home construction companies in the United Kingdom. The company was created from the merger of rivals Taylor Woodrow and George Wimpey on 3 July 2007. It is listed on the Lond ...

after winning the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Design for Manufacture Competition, which was run by

English Partnerships English Partnerships (EP) was the national regeneration agency for England, performing a similar role on a national level to that fulfilled by regional development agencies on a regional level. On 1 December 2008 its powers passed to a successor ...

in 2005.

The design process and construction

Design for Manufacture Competition

John Prescott John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott (born 31 May 1938) is a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and as First Secretary of State from 2001 to 2007. A member of the Labour Party, he w ...

, the

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

announced the competition to construct a home for around £60,000 on 26 September 2004. 53 firms/consortiums submitted pre-qualifying questionnaire by the deadline of 13 May 2005. On 1 June 2005,

announced that 33 firms had been invited to take part in the Design for Manufacture Competition to design and construct homes on 10 sites in England. They would be invited to submit firm proposals by July 2005. The Design for Manufacture Competition was run by English Partnerships on behalf of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (now known as the

Department for Communities and Local Government The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), formerly the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for housing, communities, local government ...

. The 10 sites chosen for the competition were in Leeds, Aylesbury Vale, Upton (Northampton), Newport Pagnell, Basingstoke, Maidstone, Hastings, Stone and Merton as well as Oxley Park, Milton Keynes. In November 2005, the successful bidders for the first four sites were announced, which included Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners as architects and

George Wimpey George Wimpey was a British construction firm. Formed in 1880 and based in Hammersmith, it initially operated largely as a road surfacing contractor. The business was acquired by Godfrey Mitchell in 1919, and he developed it into a constructi ...

as the builders, to build on Oxley Park.

Construction

It was planned that a total of 145 houses would be built on the site. In total there would be 11 house styles, from 2 bedroom maisonettes to five bedroom family houses. It would be a mix of affordable housing and larger private dwellings. The houses would take advantage of a range of new technologies and processes involving prefabrication and off-site assembly. This would reduce the construction time, but also reduce waste and energy in the transportation of materials to site. Each house would have a timber frame. The cladding panel would mean that waste was reduced to just 15% during manufacturing. The structure would take just one week to manufacture in the factory before travelling to site. The external element of the building would take just two days to form the shell, without the need for any scaffolding. The interior of the building would take just two weeks to complete. The first houses went up for sale in Spring 2007.

Awards for Oxley Woods

*2007 Housebuilding Innovation Awards – Best Material/Product Innovation *2008 RIBA Manser Medal *2008 RIBA South Awards *2008 RICS South East Award for Sustainability *2008 Housing Design Awards, Large Housebuilder Winner *2008 HotProperty New Homes Awards – Platinum Award for Green Homes *2008 HotProperty New Homes Awards – Gold Award for Design and Innovation *2008 RIBA / English Partnerships Sustainability Award *2008 Evening Standard New Homes Award – Highly Commended *2009 National Affordable Home Ownership Housing Awards, Best Environmentally Friendly Scheme *2009 National House-Building Council (NHBC) Pride in the Job – Seal of Excellence (Site Manager Nigel Mitchell) *2009 International Architecture Awards *Building for Life, Gold Standard

Problems with Oxley Woods

There have been problems with the design and manufacture of the houses. The problems have included the following: *Rainscreen cladding panels becoming detached *Damp-proof membranes missing from windows and behind cladding panels *Supporting battens and structure suffering from dry and

wet rot Wet rot is a generic term used to define a variety of fungal species, such as ''Coniophora puteana'' ( otherwise known as cellar fungus) and '' Choanephora cucurbitarum''. Some species obtain their food by breaking down the cell walls of wood, r ...

*Coping detail to the top of the parapets found to be discharging water run-off into cavities saturating the boarding, supporting battens and timber frames *Windows suffering from excessive moisture *Loose roof coverings *Leaks and excessive condensation build-up around rooflights

Notes

External links

{{Commons category, Oxley Woods, Milton Keynes
Oxley Woods Living residents website

Design for Manufacture / Oxley Woods on the Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners website

Oxley Woods on the Woods Newton website

Oxley Woods on the Taylor Wimpey website

YouTube excerpt from BBC ''Flog It'' programme

The architectural secrets of Milton Keynes
(BBC Beds, Herts and Bucks) Buildings and structures in Milton Keynes Richard Rogers buildings 2007 establishments in England