An exclusive look at the £90m quarry scheme

The Coleraine Times can reveal that the new development, currently being built on the site of the former Maxwells quarry and concrete batching plant at Bushmills Road, will be known as Lakeside and cost in the region of 90m.

The 42-acre site is being transformed from a 50 metre "hole in the ground" to eventually feature a mix of high quality apartments, housing and apartment blocks six to seven storeys high.

The innovative scheme will also create a series of dramatic open spaces, interconnected with 'pedestrian friendly' streets.

However the signature element will be an eight-acre, 20-metre deep lake.

Until now the Coleraine public has been largely unaware of the ground-breaking work taking place on the site which runs along Bushmills Road and extends to the back of Harpur's Hill housing estate.

However last week, Farrans Homes allowed The Coleraine Times the first exclusive access to the enormous civil engineering project, unique of its kind in Northern Ireland.

We can reveal that:

* An unprecedented 'cut and fill exercise' to fill the hole in the quarry will need 350,000 cubic metres of material - bigger than what was required at the Victoria Square shopping centre in Belfast;

* A retaining wall 'geo-grid', which will provide a stable platform for the development, is one of the biggest being built in Europe.

* Existing water from the quarry basin will be used to provide a feature lake which could be filled with trout and even used for other water-based facilities, such as swimming and jet-skiing.

* The scheme is setting new standards in environmental sustainability with most of the materials needed already on-site - such as stone from the 'cliff' face which will be used for foundations and roads;

* It could take anything from six to ten years to fully develop the site;

* Farrans intend to open the development to local schools and other bodies so that local people can see for themselves both the scale, quality and ingenuity of the project.

Farrans Homes has been working closely with the scheme's architect, Alan Patterson Design, Bangor, in order to deliver a contemporary and unique development which reflects the unusual and stunning internal quality of the former quarry.

Among the many challenging issues was the need to provide a suitable platform for the houses and designing slopes shallow enough for residential roads.

Farrans took over the redundant quarry in an excellent condition but no one had a clue what could be done with it.

Site manager, Stephen Foster said: "There are 42 acres here, that's right from the quarry basin and most of it, the top of it, has level ground. The scale of it is mind-boggling.

"Anyone looking at it could have taken the easy option and developed the top section and let the hole in the ground go.

"But Stephen Villiers at Alan Patterson Design came up with this concept of a massive cut and fill exercise and so we need approximately 350,000 cubic metres of material to fill this hole in the ground."

To give an idea of what this means - an average concrete lorry carries eight cubic metres of material and so, to fill the massive hole, it would take about 43,750 lorry loads.

Stephen explained: "This is the first quarry of its kind that anyone's ever done this with.

"I would say it's a bigger operation than Victoria Square, certainly one of the biggest cut and fill exercises for quite some time, certainly the biggest that I can remember.

"This retaining wall will certainly be the biggest in the UK and one of the biggest in Europe."

The scheme is expected to score highly on sustainability - most of the materials required to prepare the site are already there, such as stones being crushed into different sizes for roads and other uses.

The lake, which will be more than 20 metres deep, will also act as a sustainable urban drainage system (SUDS) and assist in many different areas of the civil engineering work and construction.

It has an aeration system oxygenating the water and the lake will serve the purpose that it will also create a buffer zone to the exisiting rock face as well as being a massive feature in the development itself.

The site will end up with eight acres of lake and a slope down onto the back of the retaining structure with apartments fronted onto it.

When work is completed the result will be a combination of semi-detached and detached houses, a street-scape with "pedestrian friendly" terraces and five apartment blocks up to seven storeys high.

The development will also have modern cobbling, pathways, planting and open space but at the same time be very much self contained within its environs.

Civil engineering work began last summer and it's expected that at its peak over 100 workers will be on site. There is also the real and welcome prospect of an employment and labour boost for Coleraine with electricians, plumbers and decorators getting involved in the project.

Farrans has full detailed planning permission for 207 units. The first phase will be 48 units - but it could take anything from 6-10 years for the whole site to be developed.

The first foundations should go in next month and the cut and fill exercise and all the major engineering work are due to be completed by July or August.

It's also hoped that schools and the public in general will be invited onto the site to view the work being undertaken.

Philip Tweedie of Philip Tweedie and Co, Coleraine, who are the selling agents, said: "We are delighted to be involved in such a unique and exciting project.

"When completed it will be a fantastic residential development for the Coleraine borough."