Napoleon’s Landing

UK Esplanade Apartments: 

The site was at the bottom of a sand cliff on the Esplanade at the edge Sandown, on the Isle of Wight. Planning permission had been obtained for an apartment development, on a site which was referred to locally as the “ski slope”. McMullan & Co were retained to re-evaluate the proposed development.

The proposed “ski slope” development was 10 stories above the Esplanade at its maximum height, with car parking being located at levels 3 & 4 and accessed via a narrow laneway and bridge from the top of the cliff. Because of this, the entire development of over 60 units would have had to be substantially completed prior to any of the units being occupied. McMullan & Co’s due diligence revealed that there were conflicting claims regarding the ownership and use of the access lane way which could not be easily resolved. In addition, a development of this type and scale had not been attempted previously on the island and the market was far from certain.

McMullan&Co developed a new concept whereby the development could be carried out on a phased basis with each phase being self-contained in terms of parking and other services and accessed from the esplanade. Planning permission was obtained for 59 apartments of varying sizes within the overall development which varied from 4 to 10 stories in height; most of the apartments above level 5 were larger custom designed penthouses.

With the exception of the detailed architectural and structural design, McMullan & Co provided all the other professional services including managing the construction, marketing, interior design and sales. The construction involved considerable slope stability reinforcement, contiguous piling and foundation piling where the latter was subject to the potential of seawater erosion during installation. McMullan & Co were engaged in extensive liaison with the immediate neighbours directly behind and above development before and during the slope stability works.