Millbrook Park Housing Development, London

Background
Mill Hill; first known as Myllehill back in 1547 which appears to mean “hill with a windmill”, is thought to have been derived from a mill built on an open area of ground which is now a park in the village known as the Mill Field.

In the London Borough of Barnet, situated to the Northwest of Charing Cross, Mill Hill provides good transport links to the surrounding areas.  This therefore offers the perfect location for the design of a new development which, when finished, will consist of a total number of 2,240 properties including its own community facilities such as parks and a school.

The vision for the development is to create a thriving and sustainable community at the heart of NW7.
Job Brief/Planning
Millbrook Park in Mill Hill, Barnet is part of a collection of developments working together to create a new residential village in northwest London.  The whole project will be completed across 15 phases.

To start, EcoWorld London are building 188 homes, Barratt London building 355 and Joseph Homes also building 149 of the dwellings there will be a large variety of property on offer.  Poly UK are then building a Plaza Collection which will be a range of apartments and duplexes with private gardens and amenities.

This first particular phase of the project by Barratt London consists of 345 apartments and 10 houses which are centered around landscape gardens and communal pathways.  For the paving required throughout this section of the development, TP Surfacing and Coatings were asked to quote for the large area of 580m² in permeable resin bound paving as this product is an ideal solution for such an application.

The resin bound paving would be laid over an asphalt base (installed by others) which would offer the structure and durability for the type of traffic expected within a housing development.  The permeable element of the resin bound paving would prevent puddling and standing water on top of the surface whilst giving a more aesthetically pleasing finish to compliment the surrounding buildings.

Peter Hickles, from TP Surfacing and Coatings is no stranger to SureSet Resin Systems ProResin product and knew this would be the high-quality finish the development required.  Mixed with aggregate of natural colours; Chestnut and Butterscotch, it was decided that they will complement the homes perfectly whilst offering a clear design element to the paving.

The two colours were used to create a waved pattern defining the pathways to the homes and communal areas.  Flexible metal edging was put down to give a clean and stable edge for the resin bound paving to be laid up to.
Process/Execution
First the areas are marked out for the material batches and the shapes where the edging is to be installed, using flexible aluminum is great for creating the smooth curves and giving a clear definition between the Chestnut and Butterscotch.  Smaller designs such as logos and writing/numbers can also be done using this method.

The crucial part of the resin bound paving process is in the mixing, the 2 parts of ProResin need to be mixed together and the catalyst added using SureSet’s Catalyst Guidance Table.  This is then added into the forced action mixer with the required aggregates for the mix being used.  The resin and stone need to be thoroughly mixed together to ensure each particle of the stone is covered fully in resin, the same mixing time should then be used for each batch of material.  Once mixed, the material is transported to the laying area where it is levelled out to the required depth before being hand floated to a smooth and compact finish.  There are many techniques for floating resin bound paving such as the traditional hand trowel or a mechanical hover trowel.  Both techniques ensure a high quality and seamless surface.

The large 580m² area was installed over a total of 2 days.  Once laid it is recommended to leave approximately 6-8 hours before walking on the surface and up to 24 before driving on it.  Resin bound paving is a low maintenance and durable solution which will provide an attractive and sustainable hard landscaped surfacing to bring the development to life.

New owners of these fantastic properties can enjoy the semi-rural location with views over Finchley Golf Club and North London.  Complete with their own outdoor space, local amenities and their newly finished resin bound paved areas, residents can enjoy living here for many years to come.  Another benefit to residing in this development is that Millbrook Park Primary School is a new nursery and primary school within the complex serving families in the growing Mill Hill community, a great opportunity for the families moving to this area.

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The benefits of our ProResin are:

• Polyurethane
• UV stable
• Bespoke service
• Crystal clear
• High quality
• Durable
• Designed in-house
• Full control with separate catalyst
• The same technology used on all SureSet Resin Systems projects