The regeneration of the former Horlicks factory in Slough was unveiled to the media when Berkeley Homes put on a tour of the site.

The former factory building and its surrounding land is being redeveloped for around 1,300 homes by the housebuilder. The scheme includes the conversion of the locally-listed former factory for 161 flats.

Journalists at the tour on Monday, September 26 got a rare look inside the building (see gallery below), which was initially built in 1908 before being substantially extended in the 1930s and 1940s.

The five floors, which include a lower ground level, will have duplex apartments added to parts of the roof.

And the famous red ‘Horlicks’ sign at the top of the building is once again in place as part of the regeneration although the letters are new ones and are slightly to the east of where the originals stood.

The original letters still exist and could yet feature around the site.

Berkeley Homes design director David Taylor described how a lightwell is being created by vaulted glass panels on the factory building’s roof to illuminate a 15-metre wide central aisle from top to bottom.

The original steel columns have been largely maintained although the previous, but not original, white windows have been replaced with new ones with darker frames which Berkeley felt was more in keeping with the building.

Also in the building will be residents’ only facilities including a gym, cinema, games room, concierge and a co-working space. Elsewhere on the site a nursery and shop will be provided.

As well as the homes within the main factory building, the clock tower is being converted to flats and there will be an area of public realm outside called Clocktower Place.

The iconic chimney, now separate from the main factory after demolition of a small section of the building, has been shot-blasted and, although not functional, will remain as a landmark. A specialist team from Wales worked on cleaning the structure.

The listed war memorial will be brought back to the site and placed at Memorial Square, an area of public realm framed by part of the factory, including its imposing main entrance, and a new building to be called The Warehouse.

So far, across the scheme, 143 flats have been sold and 98 of those occupied. Current prices range from £282,500 to £669,500.

Of the factory building’s mix of 161 studio, one and two-bedroom apartments and its three-bedroom duplexes on the roof (some of which have distant views of Windsor Castle), a total of 27 have already been sold, almost six months before the first of them is completed.

Alexa Peters, head of Savills new homes team in Reading, said: ‘Horlicks Quarter is the most important development Slough has seen in many decades. It is a place-making scheme that is at the heart of the town’s regeneration, providing beautifully-designed buildings and public realms the likes of which have never been seen before in the area.

“The new homes are selling incredibly well, with interest coming from across the market – from first time buyers from the local area, to people moving out of London, and international buyers and investors.

“Now, as its new residents start to move in, and the wider scheme, especially the historic former factory building, starts to take shape, we get a real sense of its significance.”

Visit https://www.berkeleygroup.co.uk/developments/berkshire/slough/horlicks-quarter

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