Post-occupancy evaluation: Redrow

Client: Redrow 

Project type: Post-occupancy evaluation

Number of sites: 2

Locations: Barton Seagrave, Kettering (Northamptonshire); Woodford Garden Village, Poynton (Cheshire)

Timeline: July 2023 – May 2024

What was the project?

Redrow commissioned QOLF Consulting to conduct post-occupancy evaluations at two developments: Barton Seagrave in Kettering and Woodford Garden Village in Poynton. 

The goal was to gain a deeper understanding of how residents experience life in Redrow communities and assess the success of Redrow’s placemaking and community-building approaches.

Through this evaluation, we sought to uncover the strengths of the existing developments while identifying areas for improvement. Our insights would inform future Redrow projects, enabling them to refine their design, stewardship, and community engagement strategies, ultimately helping to create communities that better support the health, wellbeing, and long-term satisfaction of their residents.

What did we do?

We began with desk research to understand the local context of each site, reviewing socio-economic data, amenities, green spaces, and social infrastructure. This gave us a solid foundation for the project. We then conducted scoping visits to Barton Seagrave and Woodford Garden Village, where we connected with local community organisations to gain a deeper understanding of each development.

Next, we designed a resident survey based on our Quality of Life Framework themes, which guided our evaluation. We followed up with one-to-one interviews, allowing us to explore in greater depth the key points raised by residents and to incorporate feedback from Redrow stakeholders on specific topics of interest.

For outreach and engagement, we used a multi-channel approach to ensure broad participation. We distributed flyers to residents to raise awareness of the survey, while also reaching out to local community stakeholders – such as schools and allotment groups- to encourage responses. Digital assets were shared via Redrow’s social media channels, further amplifying our reach within local resident groups.

The project was guided by The Quality of Life Framework, which is made up of six themes that evidence shows are essential in helping create happier and healthier neighbourhoods and communities. These themes show up consistently throughout our work, and are the lens through which we categorised the questions, data that we collected and recommendations to Redrow.

What was the impact?

Through our engagement at Barton Seagrave and Woodford Garden Village, we collected valuable insights that enabled us to develop targeted recommendations for Redrow. These recommendations focused on design enhancements, including simple adjustments to layouts, landscaping, and streetscapes, aimed at improving residents’ health and wellbeing. These practical suggestions were designed to be implemented in future developments, ensuring that Redrow’s communities foster stronger, more connected neighbourhoods.

We also provided recommendations for strengthening future resident engagement, underpinned by our Code of Practice for Effective Consultation and Engagement. By promoting best practices, we have helped Redrow continue to review how they engage residents meaningfully in the design and stewardship of their communities. 

This work will help shape how Redrow approaches design and community-building in the future, contributing to long-term improvements in both the physical environment and resident satisfaction.

What did they say?

“We have enjoyed working with the Quality of Life Foundation and found the team to be collaborative and thorough in their approach, seeking to understand what we wanted to achieve from our post-occupancy research and developing a methodology to deliver this.  

“We particularly valued their commitment to capturing independently the genuine lived experience of residents living in our completed developments and the findings will be very useful to us in reflecting and refining our approach to placemaking and the delivery of our new communities.”  – Rose Sandell, Group Communities Director, Redrow