The studio is part of council estate regeneration developer Place Capital Group, which is working as design management partner on the 11,200m project for Lancaster City Council.The scheme will create 93 new flats on the Owen Road site of the former school, which closed in 2014 and will be demolished. The scheme is a companion project to the ongoing retrofit of the neighbouring Mainway Estate.As well as providing sustainable, modern, and low-carbon housing, it also includes new community spaces, changing rooms, substantial play and amenity spaces and a revamp of the schools playing fields.AdvertisementThe flats will be housed in two 'bold' six-storey apartment blocks 'echoing the original school layout' with the houses in terraces following the historical street pattern to the north.Grounded, working with masterplanner MCAU, carried out extensive public consultation leading to a design that it says responds to key tenant feedback, presenting housing choices for a range of housing needs in the layouts and bed space, including fully accessible dwellings.Lancaster City Council leader Caroline Jackson, who is also cabinet member with responsibility for housing, described the approval as a huge step forward in our regeneration efforts for Mainway.She said: Its not just about building new homes but about creating a vibrant community space that people can be proud of, and it will make a real difference to local families and the wider Lancaster community.Im particularly excited about the emphasis on sustainability, which sets the standards that we want others to follow.AdvertisementPhelps, who set up Grounded in 2021, said: It is great to be able to celebrate this milestone in the future of the estate and to take a step towards the homes that people need to live healthy and sustainable lives.Phelps previously founded Croydon Councils in-house practice Common Ground Architecture, which has since closed.In 2022 the studio won a pilot project for the deep retrofit of the vacant Lune and Derby House buildings, a pilot scheme to revamp 16 homes at the southern tip of the nextdoor Mainway estate.A future timeframe for the Skerton High School project is not yet known.Project dataLocationLancasterLocal authority Lancaster City CouncilType of project Affordable housingClientLancaster City CouncilDevelopment manager Place Capital GroupArchitectGroundedDelivery architect MCAULandscape architectShapeSustainability consultantLEDAPlanning consultantTurleysStructural engineerHTSM&E consultantLEDAFire Consultant BB7Arboriculturist M.D.L.Ecology UESQuantity surveyorAnderton GablesPrincipal designerAnderton GablesMain contractorTo be confirmedFundingUndisclosedTender dateTo be confirmedStart on site dateTo be confirmedGross internal floor area11,234mForm of contractTo be confirmed