Lancaster West Neighbourhood Team - Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
The Pitch
The Lancaster West Neighborhood Team – Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea turned Lancaster West Estate (LWE) into an eco-neighborhood by co-designing home retrofits and public greening efforts with residents.
The Problem
The Grenfell Tower tragedy took the lives of 72 people after a fire rapidly spread due to the use of hazardous, flammable insulation that covered the building. Local authorities and corporations were aware of the risks associated with using this insulation yet still used it to cut costs. This disaster highlighted that residents were not at the heart of decisions and revealed a clear need for resident involvement.
The Process
- Developed a three-phased co-design process to refurbish LWE that involved all residents in decision making
- Worked with elected resident representative structures, such as LWE Resident Association and block representatives, and created communication channels to reach all residents
- Coordinated cross-service forums to arrange service delivery from LWE service providers
- Organized refurbishment and installation of an air source heat pump and solar PV panels at 50 Verity Close: West London’s first low-energy social home
- Generated community connections and improved health through community gardening, well-being services, a community fridge, a breakfast program, waste management services and community events
The Impact
- Decreased heating demand in the refurbished 50 Verity Close by 80%, bringing the social home’s total energy consumption down to 81 kilowatt hours of energy per meter squared per year and saving residents 750 euros each year
- Retrofitted 125 homes (with plans to retrofit 826 more) to reach carbon neutrality by 2030
- Turned 1,119 square meters of LWE’s gray spaces into green spaces and bio-diversified 715 square meters of green spaces
- Planned sustainable urban drainage systems for each part of LWE
- Installed the first living green walls on a council estate in London and the first bio-solar roof in the borough
- Engaged 75% of LWE households in some form
- Dedicated 1,461 hours via 85 volunteers to community gardening
- Offered 202 massage sessions and routine yoga sessions (that garnered 69 regular participants) via new well-being services
- Diverted 500 kilograms of food waste and fed 60 residents via the community fridge
- Fed 86 residents per month via the community breakfast program
- Spurred development of decarbonization and climate adaptation plans for local schools to use zero-carbon heating systems
- Led to the selection and inclusion of Lancaster West and the broader Notting Dale ward in the Mayor of London’s Future Neighborhoods scheme
