Repton Gardens

The Wembley Park development project in North-West London originated over twenty years ago. At the time, the area around Wembley Stadium and OVO Arena Wembley was simply a vast expanse of tarmac. Hardly attractive and not at all sustainable. From development team Quintain emerged a vision for a neighbourhood that would over time become a home to many as well as a destination draw within London. Two decades on, the district features local restaurants, independent retailers, a renowned theatre, charming parks, and 5,000 residential dwellings.

Providing nearly 400 of those new homes, many of them discount market rent residences, the Repton Gardens apartments were conceived through a lens of botanical inspiration. Thoughtful design has culminated in wonderful outdoor gardens for residents to enjoy. But greenery and plant imagery are also woven throughout the interior design. Picture a wealth of lush plants, vibrant green hues, and botanical motifs.

This literally green interpretation was underpinned by an acceleration towards a greener approach within Quintain’s development work. “We started a fairly early march to get to greener buildings and more sustainable outcomes through the Repton Gardens project,” recalls Mark Simmons, Quintain’s Director of Project & Design Management. “We tested a lot of our thinking and theories, putting all of our best bits together in one place. We made great steps there – steps we've now used on subsequent buildings that are literally coming out of the ground as we speak.”

Designing Repton Gardens, the Quintain team ran into frustrations early on regarding carbon testing tool options, which were much less mainstream in the market at the time. They also encountered a lack of consistency and transparency when it came to accreditation labels and standards. With carbon neutrality as one of the company’s core commitments for the future, though, the team persisted. “We quickly discovered the consultants that were dialled into where the market and development were going,” Mark Simmons shares. “We had quite a few people in our supply chain and particularly in our short list of consultants who were eager, which is the best place to start.”

One of those experts was Marie De Laet, the Sustainability Manager for modulyss who breathes, eats, and drinks sustainability. Presenting to the Quintain team, she first dissected the soft flooring choices used in their earlier developments, before highlighting more sustainable solutions for future projects. Given the nature of rental properties, like the Repton Gardens buildings, carpet tiles met the mark in a practical sense. “Broadloom sells itself well at the concept stage,” Mark Simmons explains, “but when you start analysing replacement, repair, maintenance, it starts to get frightening pretty quickly. As a philosophy, we've moved to carpet tiles wholeheartedly.”

The Repton Gardens carpet tile selection played a supporting role within the project’s overarching design concept. In that light, Quintain opted for a fairly neutral grey design from the DSGN Absolute collection. According to Mark Simmons, the key was to find a pattern that would bring a degree of sophistication without looking overly complicated. “They appear simple, but break up the surface of a carpet tile enough to be able to stitch in a replacement at any time in the future without drawing attention.” Quintain’s design team is eager to explore the flexibility and modularity of carpet tiles from a more creative stance, too. In fact, the designers are already playing around with patterning and borders in the context of future development projects.

At Repton Gardens, tiles were paired with comfortBack recycled polyester felt backing. This lent a gentle bounce, a cushioned sense of luxury, to the residents’ user experience. The backing also factored into the overall sustainability story, Mark Simmons adds. “In trying to reduce the amount of embodied carbon in our buildings, floor slabs are getting thinner, increasing sound transfer. As a result, underlays and acoustic performance are crucial to making that work, allowing you to reduce the concrete thickness wherever you can.”

Quintain is on an impressive journey towards Net Zero Carbon by 2040 – every possible gain in that direction is vital. “Conversations we might have had later in the design stages are going to start happening a lot earlier on,” concludes Mark Simmons. In light of that commitment to sustainable change, Quintain is already gravitating towards newer carpet tile collections and innovative backings that will drive each future development project closer to that challenging target.