Case Study

Essex Villas - Air Quality

The Client & The Project

Phlorum was appointed by construction planning specialists Seneca Services to produce an Air Quality and Dust Management Plan (AQDMP) for refurbishment works at a residential property located on Essex Villas in the heart of Kensington, London. The Essex Villas works include the demolition of a lower ground floor bay window, construction of two single-storey additions, a single-storey basement extension, alterations to façades and landscaping.

The Challenge

The AQDMP supported a wider Site Construction Management Plan (SCMP) produced by Seneca Services for the refurbishment project, which was required to complete the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s (RBKC) Code of Construction Practice (CoCP) Appendix A Checklist.

The AQDMP was also necessary to help discharge a planning condition requiring an Appendix A Checklist and SCMP to be submitted to and approved in writing by the RBKC.

The Services Provided

Phlorum produced a comprehensive AQDMP to support the SCMP and assist in discharging the related planning condition. This included a review of local baseline air quality conditions, and in particular, the pollutant most relevant to construction dust (i.e. particulate matter (PM10)) using Defra’s UK-AIR Information Resource (UK-AIR), the London Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (LAEI) and the RBKC’s local air quality monitoring network.

Once baseline air quality conditions had been established, the level of risk associated with the proposed construction works, in terms of potential dust soiling impacts, human health impacts and ecological impacts, was determined by undertaking a full Construction Dust Risk Assessment, following the Institute of Air Quality Management’s (IAQM) latest Guidance on the assessment of dust from demolition and construction. Emissions from Non-Road Mobile Machinery (NRMM) were also considered in line with relevant Greater London Authority (GLA) guidance.

Based on the assessed level of risk for the construction works, a full AQDMP was produced, with tailored mitigation measures recommended in line with best-practice guidance to reduce the potential for dust and air quality related impacts during the Essex Villas refurbishment works.

A suitable dust monitoring protocol was also developed and incorporated in the AQDMP, following guidance from the IAQM and the GLA’s The Control of Dust and Emissions During Construction and Demolition Supplementary Planning Guidance. As the refurbishment works were determined to be Low Risk, the air quality monitoring protocol recommended weekly visual site inspections to ensure the effectiveness of the mitigation measures detailed in the AQDMP.

Throughout the Construction Dust Risk Assessment process and producing the AQDMP, Phlorum maintained regular contact with Seneca Services to ensure that the best data were used and that our reports were delivered on time.

The Outcome

The AQDMP was submitted to the RBKC in October 2024. The submitted documents (SCMP and AQDMP) have since been approved by the RBKC and the refurbishment works at Essex Villas are planned to take place in 2025.

Phlorum are experts in producing AQDMPs for construction projects in London, Sussex, Surrey, Kent and across the UK. We can assist further during the construction phase of projects by providing dust and air pollution monitoring services. This includes rapid responses to events that cause alert thresholds to be breached.

For further information on how we can assist you with your construction projects, please contact Phlorum’s Air Quality consultants at [email protected].