London Irish players promote "spacious" Redrow homes
UK housebuilder, Redrow, is partnering with players from London Irish Rugby Football Club (RFC) to prove its homes are spacious enough to accommodate even the tallest and broadest of residents. Nic Rouse, who is 6ft 6” and Will Lloyd, who stands at 6ft 8”, complain that low door frames are an issue in many properties. Rouse said: “It’s great to see the changes Redrow is making, which really make the homes feel spacious.” Sales and marketing director for Redrow Homes, Dave Bexon, said: “London Irish are helping us to stay onside with customers. Nic and his teammate Will were the ideal candidates to show that our homes are far from small and box-like."

AS New Homes Week kicks off (May 16-22), London Irish RFC is helping Redrow to tackle preconceptions of new homes.

Redrow’s designs consistently challenge the view that new homes are small, boxy or lack character – with plenty of period style features and higher than average ceilings among their attributes.

And the company has just announced updates to one of its core ranges, the Arts & Crafts inspired Heritage Collection, to improve it even further. Changes include additional floor space in several house designs and taller windows and doors to let in more light.

Redrow invited London Irish rugby players Nic Rouse and Will Lloyd (both pictured) to try some of its homes for space. At 198cm/6ft 6” and 203cm/6ft 8” respectively they’re used to sometimes finding themselves in a tight squeeze!

Nic said:

“I’m forever ducking and diving or banging my head on doorframes in friends’ houses. It’s great to see the changes Redrow is making, which really make the homes feel spacious.”

Dave Bexon, Group sales and marketing director for Redrow Homes, said:

“London Irish are helping us to stay onside with customers and show why Redrow homes are head and shoulders above the competition. Nic and his teammate Will were the ideal candidates to show that our homes are far from small and box-like. “Our ground floor ceiling heights are 2,535mm; on average that’s around 185mm higher than our competitors. It may not sound a lot but, as Nic and Will will confirm, it really does make a difference. In the latest enhancements to our Heritage Collection we’re also increasing the height of our internal doors by 150mm to 2,150mm and our external doors and windows to the ground floor will increase by the same amount to 2,250mm.”

Redrow’s re-working of its popular Heritage Collection designs isn’t restricted to door and window heights. It’s made other important changes too.

Dave explained:

“New hipped roof pitches will be introduced on some designs to allow more light into our developments and break up the streetscape. Internally we’ve moved walls and changed things around to increase the floor space of some house designs too.” “The ‘Stratford’ – our starter four-bedroom family home – is the perfect example. We’ve created a more interesting and expansive family space with an extra window spanning the rear of the house, and introduced a bay window to the lounge and master bedroom to increase light and space. The hipped roof, which extends over the bay, has the added benefit of creating a more characterful façade for the front of the property.”

The design changes show Redrow has no intention of resting on its laurels with what it already a hugely popular collection, both with customers looking for a home that boasts time-honoured architectural features and critics alike. The Heritage Collection has won several design awards since its introduction in 2010 and continues to win Redrow fans.

Dave added:

“By continuing to innovate in terms of housing design and evolve our product offering, we’re ensuring we stay ahead of the competition and make Redrow the developer of choice for our customers and investors.”

In addition to the Heritage Collection, Redrow has introduced two further product ranges in recent years. Its classically styled Regent Collection, with its Georgian inspired street scenes, is being introduced to affluent urban areas where land is at a premium but style remains a priority; while its contemporary Abode homes, boasting open plan layouts with simplified kitchen, dining and lounge areas, high specification wet rooms and outdoor living space, are proving popular with first time buyers and downsizers looking to streamline their lives.