Student Accommodation, Wembley Park

Project:                        Wembley Park, London    
Sector:                         Student    
Client:                          Greystar   
Main Contractor:         McAleer & Rushe 
Architect:                     HTA Design 
Pod Type:                     GRP enhanced shower pods  
Number of pods:         761 

The Project

Developed by Greystar, a new 20-storey student scheme is under construction by McAleer & Rushe at Wembley Park in London.

Designed by HTA, this 770-bed development will be operated under the Canvas brand and will open to its first occupants in September 2025.

Greystar is a global leader in the investment, development and management of high quality real estate.

This scheme has been designed to a BREEAM Excellent rating and features a wide range of amenities, including lounges and social spaces, gym, screen room, games room, private dining space, communal study area, cycle storage, and external gardens and podiums.

The Bathroom Pod Solution

This £2.4m project to manufacture 761 GRP shower pods is our second contract for McAleer & Rushe. It will involve the production of standard and larger accessible and adaptable floorless enhanced GRP bathroom pods.

The shower rooms will have a new metro style brick bond tile-effect finish which avoids the need for grout to the wet areas to reduce maintenance. Pod manufacturing will be completed by Spring 2024.

Sustainably manufactured and fitted out offsite in controlled factory conditions, the finished bathrooms for Wembley Park will be installed on site in just a few hours.  

Bathrooms Fully Fitted Out in Controlled Factory Conditions

Each pod will be fully fitted out at our factory in Somerset with a wall hung toilet, D-shaped wall hung basin, a vanity shelf with solid surface worktop, circular mirror above the basin, a mirrored two-door cabinet, a shower with a riser rail and a bi-fold shower door.

All the pods will be supplied floorless – a highly efficient solution to minimise floor build-up for high-rise residential projects.

The accessible pods will be Part M compliant and will have dropdown and fixed grabrails, a low-level basin positioned closer to the toilet and a lever tap. These bathrooms will have a large-format tile-effect finish.

The Customer Perspective

Harrison Hart, Development Associate, Greystar:

“As a business, we are driving the use of offsite construction for bathrooms for the majority of our student schemes as it aligns with our ESG commitments. Pods generate less waste through more efficient use of materials, less traffic to site, provide a better working environment for the bathroom fitout, and quality is better with significantly reduced snagging at practical completion.”

“Design development for the bathrooms on this project has been an incredibly quick process and has been completed at an earlier stage than if we were using in-situ bathroom construction. It is then possible to see the first off pod early on to verify and refine the design detailing, and to inform the design of the student bedrooms. It also provides a benchmark for quality control.”

“Having one single supplier is very helpful to simplify procurement, design and site management, and still gives us flexibility. We also really like Offsite Solutions’ panelised GRP solution because it allows 90° corners that have an enhanced aesthetic compared to moulded bathroom pods.”

Darragh Greenan, Contracts Director, McAleer & Rushe:

“The use of bathroom pods for this project reflects our commitment to supporting offsite manufacturing and all the benefits it can bring – increasing efficiency on site, reducing material deliveries and the associated carbon emissions, and reducing site waste. There are also clear quality control advantages as we have the opportunity to assess the quality of the bathroom finishes before going into full production.”

The Sustainability Benefits of GRP Bathroom Pods

As a material, GRP has low environmental impact. It is light to transport, strong, highly durable, and requires much less energy to produce than steel or concrete. It is also 100 per cent recyclable.

Our GRP pods have been widely used in the student living sector for many years where robustness, longevity, ease of maintenance and lower capital and operating costs are primary considerations. These pods have a life of at least 50 years and so offer significant life cycle cost benefits for retained assets.

Image courtesy of HTA Design