A new housing development in Cockerham has secured two North West Regional Winner awards at the LABC Building Excellence Awards 2026.

Estuary Hill, Cockerham, developed by Wilson & Co Properties Ltd, was named North West Regional Winner for Best Medium Volume New Housing Development, while Wilson & Co Properties and Lancaster City Council also received the regional award for Best Partnership with a Local Authority Building Control Team.

The official LABC results list Estuary Hill as the winner of the Medium Volume category, with the project team comprising Wilson & Co Properties Ltd, L&W Wilson (Higham) Ltd, HPA Chartered Architects (also a Lancaster company) and R G Parkins & Partners Ltd (also a Lancaster company), alongside Lancaster City Council Building Control.

The awards recognise both the finished 25-home development and the collaborative approach used to overcome a series of unusual technical challenges during its construction.

Estuary Hill, Cockerham, which has been named North West Regional Winner for Best Medium Volume New Housing Development at the LABC Building Excellence Awards 2026.

placeholder image — Estuary Hill, Cockerham, which has been named North West Regional Winner for Best Medium Volume New Housing Development at the LABC Building Excellence Awards 2026.

Estuary Hill encountered difficult ground conditions, steep topography and the unexpected discovery of an underground well during foundation excavations.

The project team responded by working with engineers and Building Control to develop revised foundation solutions incorporating vibro-piling and ground remediation, allowing the development to continue while protecting structural integrity and maintaining the overall programme.

The site also required an unconventional approach to surface water attenuation.

When a traditional attenuation solution proved unsuitable, the team developed an underground Aqua Spira attenuation system design, using large-diameter pipework approximately 1.8 metres in diameter and three metres long.

One of the completed homes at the award-winning Estuary Hill development in Cockerham.

The solution reduced excavation and disruption while allowing the drainage infrastructure to be accommodated within the constrained site.

The completed homes incorporate modern technologies including air source heat pumps, electric vehicle charging, enhanced insulation and underfloor heating, alongside M4(2) accessibility standards despite the challenging site gradient.

The second award recognises the working relationship established between Wilson & Co Properties and Lancaster City Council Building Control.

The award submission highlighted regular site attendance, direct communication and collaborative technical problem solving, with Building Control working alongside the developer, contractor, engineers and site operatives to resolve issues as they arose.

Large-diameter Aqua Spira pipework used to create the development's innovative underground attenuation system.

Byron Wilson, operations director at Wilson & Co Properties, said: “We are extremely proud to see Estuary Hill receive this recognition, particularly as both awards relate to different aspects of the same development.

"The Best Medium Volume New Housing Development award recognises what has ultimately been delivered at Cockerham, while the Partnership award recognises the way the project team and Lancaster City Council Building Control worked together to get there.

“Estuary Hill presented us with some genuinely difficult engineering challenges, many of which purchasers will never see because the solutions are now buried beneath the finished development.

“It is therefore particularly rewarding for the work of our local staff, contractors, consultants, engineers and Lancaster City Council Building Control to receive recognition at North West regional level.”

The official LABC North West results confirm that both entries are regional winners and will now be eligible to compete at the LABC Grand Finals.