One of Jamaica’s most renowned upscale neighbourhoods, Cherry Gardens in St Andrew, is to see ground broken with Axsumite Homes building salubrious townhouse residences there.

The four townhouse residences at Sunset Avenue in upper St Andrew have been designed with a tropical modern emphasis. The design has given particular consideration to maximising natural light and air flows through these homes. 

The units are designed across three levels neatly tucked into the lush and sloping landscape with views towards Kingston and neighbouring hillsides. 

The exclusive residences are to be constructed with a revolutionary building platform known as the Axsumite Building System which utilises a cutting-edge construction material known as the ‘Perfect Block’.

According to founding director, Jamaican-Canadian Anthony Atkinson, the blocks are proven to be superior in strength and durability, passing the most rigorous stress tests of the Bureau of Standards Jamaica for earthquake and storm resistance, as well as added benefits such as repelling mold, mildew and rodents.

“Our goal in this Cherry Gardens project is to combine our construction best practices and first rate materials to create elegant homes that merge into the leafy surrounding environment,” Atkinson said.

Although the Perfect Block is lighter, Atkinson declared it is indeed superior with no compromising on strength or safety in any way.

He pointed out that the Perfect Block is composed of a mixture of concrete and expandible polystyrene Styrofoam (EPS) beads. The product is used in both North and Central American residential, factory and office construction and can be produced for significantly less than conventional concrete building blocks.

Axsumite Homes was founded by Roland H Plummer and Atkinson with the primary goal of helping Jamaica and other developing countries solve their housing shortage through building affordable and sustainable communities. 

“We saw an opportunity to offer people something unique in a world of uniformity. We are here today because we took the time and examined every aspect of a well-designed home and made it better.

“Our structural engineers studied home design concepts from all over the world, particularly in areas that are prone to earthquakes, hurricanes, high temperatures and heavy rains. We took into consideration ‘New Urbanism’ which calls for homes to be greener, more individual in character, energy efficient, cost effective, community focused and infused with integrated green space. We gave special attention to what the homeowner wanted and what was good for communities,” said Atkinson.

Axsumite Homes said it was cognizant of the need in Jamaica to satisfy the demand of constructing 17,400 homes annually, according to estimates from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica, in order to address the housing deficit.

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Axsumite added that it was confident that the Perfect Block can be a game-changer in the building sector, particularly in developing affordable housing solutions.

“The cost of a conventional two-bedroom home would be reduced significantly using our Perfect Block Construction System,” said Atkinson.

The company is also interested in constructing a propose-built, environmentally friendly block factory in Jamaica to produce the Perfect Blocks locally which can generate local employment and reduce costs on import duties and taxes, with savings passed on to the consumer.

The Axsumite Building System, Atkinson said, has received rave reviews wherever it has been utilised globally and was the winner of the 2020 International Building Show’s Innovative Building Award.