Wolverhampton’s Royal Quarter: How do you put placemaking at the centre of regeneration?

Wolverhampton’s Royal Quarter, a conservation area home to the iconic Victorian and Grade II listed former Royal Hospital, is a prime example of regeneration with placemaking at its heart.

The quarter has been subject to wholescale regeneration since Homes England, acting as master developer, commenced site assembly of commercially owned land and property back in the late 2010s.

Since this time, a collaboration between Homes England’s chosen developer – Morro Partnerships (formerly known as Jessup Partnerships), and long term investors and social landlords whg and YMCA Black Country are bringing what will be 450 new affordable, mixed tenure, multi-generational homes to fruition.

The quarter is also home to YMCA Black Country’s HQ, a 115-place day nursery and commercial space, while local charity All Saints’ Action Network, hope to turn the former hospital’s porter’s lodge into a community café.

This exciting and vibrant new place represents how partnership working, high quality design and construction, sensitive conservation and great placemaking provides just what a new community needs.

Rebecca Bennett Casserly, corporate director of development at WHG, spoke to Jordan Marshall ahead of the event.

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself, your role and how you sort of got to where you are today?

I’ve worked in the affordable housing sector for more than 30 years, starting my career in development management at a housing association. I went on to work for large, private sector construction and consultancy organisations, Balfour Beatty and Arcadis.

I then returned to my roots and joined Walsall-based housing association whg six years ago. I was attracted by the organisation’s placemaking approach and commitment to creating sustainable communities, which I knew would provide a strong foundation for an innovative development strategy.

I was born and raised in Wolverhampton so this project is personal for me.

At the Development Partnership Forum the Royal Quarter is set to be explored in depth - could you tell me a bit about the project’s history?

This is quite a complex scheme. We’re talking about a development that, by the time it is finished, is going to be almost 30 years in the making!

In a strategic context, it started with City of Wolverhampton Council’s New Deal activity back in 2001. They commenced the regeneration of the All Saints’ area and during that time, invested £50m on improving and replacing housing on the immediate periphery of the Royal Quarter.

In 2001, Tesco acquired the former Royal Hospital, which they planned to convert to retail use. Grade II listed, with a large car park and several ancillary buildings, the hospital had already undergone quite significant work in 2015 when the project stalled and Tesco withdrew from the site.

That brings us to the current Royal Quarter redevelopment. Can you tell me about how that has progressed?

The quarter is made up of three phases of residential development.

Homes England played a huge role in unlocking the potential of the first two phases. In 2016 they assembled the former bus depot and Royal Hospital (and adjacent land) and promoted the sites through the planning process for residential use.

They secured Morro Partnerships as a development partner through the DPP3 panel, and Morro selected BPN Architects for their credentials in heritage work and experience on projects in a conservation area.

The partnership we have with Morro and YMCA Black Country is a great fit and has been hugely successful so far. Morro were focussed on securing the best possible long term investors, stewards, and landlord partners, which aligns so well with whg’s place-based approach. They needed partners who were able to formulate a viable detailed planning permission for both sites, whilst creating a viable and thriving community. 

What does the make up of those two phases look like?

Phase 1 was completed in 2021, delivering 92 homes for whg, made up of 83 for affordable rent and nine for shared ownership. The remainder of phase one included 63 Y-living affordable apartments for young people in full-time work, education or training, a new headquarters, commercial space and day nursery for YMCA Black Country.

Phase 2 is still on site and encompasses the former Royal Hospital itself and land to the rear. This is a wholly owned, mixed tenure and multigenerational whg scheme, with the Grade II listed former hospital being converted into 48 wellbeing apartments for the over 55s. On the land to the rear we are developing 123 affordable rent and 31 shared ownership homes, providing much-needed additional housing close to the city centre.

So, what’s next?

We’ll be approaching phase 3 in a slightly different way. The partnership remains, although this phase has not been assembled by Homes England. Instead, Morro Partnerships has secured a private treaty acquisition from local painting and decorating business SJ Dixon and Son. The site sits just opposite phase 2 and in part consists of another well-known local landmark and heritage building facing Cleveland Road.

Whg will soon enter a land and build contract with Morro Partnerships for 63 new social rent homes, and YMCA Black Country will do the same for 30 homes as part of a supported housing arrangement. These "move on" homes are designed to be a stepping stone into independent tenancies from the Y-living apartments just a short distance away in phase 1. This final phase should start by the end of the summer.

So across these three phases, we will have created 450 additional homes and transformed the area, paving the way for the council’s new gateway to the city centre.

Do you think is there any key lessons that you think others at the Development Partnership Forum could take in terms of the approach to placemaking? 

I think there are a number of key ingredients I would like to mention in answering that question.

The first is that, fundamentally, the Royal Quarter would not be the success it is today without the support and intervention of Homes England and its master developer role. Equally, they couldn’t have done it without both the strategic clout of the City of Wolverhampton Council’s leadership team and can-do attitude of their Local Planning Authority. Collaboration really is the key to this project.

Secondly, Morro Partnerships’ prowess to physically tackle difficult brownfield remediation and the sensitive conversion of heritage buildings, while not being tempted to cut corners on design excellence has been a key success factor too.

Thirdly, whg and YMCA Black Country have an excellent place-based partnership with commitment to the success of the Royal Quarter for decades to come alongside the longstanding work of local charity All Saints’ Action Network.

Fourthly, all phases have only been viable by the partners securing funding to subsidise the affordable homes from Homes England.

Finally, The West Midlands Combined Authority is set to support gap funding requirements for phase 3, without which we’d not be able to move forward with the last piece of the residential jigsaw.

In summary, the power of partnership has been limitless and it feels hugely motivational to be part of this transformative project both on a personal and professional level. 

To hear more from Rebecca Bennett Casserly head to the Housing Forum’s Development Partnership Forum event in Wolverhampton on 11 July. The event will also include a tour of the Royal Quarter with Rebecca.

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