Tall & Urban News

Bristol City Council has waved away criticism of proposed high-rise student blocks designed by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris and approved the designs.

The accommodation will be arranged in two buildings of 21 and 9 stories, with an extended podium, wrapped around a central courtyard. This is a key part of the university’s £300 million (US$387 million) Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus.

Campaign groups and resident associations had criticized the scheme to house 953 postgraduates near the city’s main Temple Meads station as a blot on the landscape for people arriving by train. Historic England said it would “screen present views of the attractive, colorful terraced houses of Totterdown which, though undesignated, are a locally distinctive and a well-recognized symbol of the city.”

The heritage watchdog added that there was a danger the proposed buildings “may appear as sheer, unrelieved monoliths with little sense of refinement in their detail.”

“This is a very prominent site, and its location adjacent to the London-bound platforms at Temple Meads will be the first impression of Bristol to visitors arriving in the city.”

A derelict former Royal Mail sorting office and adjoining 1970s office building will be demolished to make way for the new scheme, which is a joint venture partnership between the University of Bristol, investor Equitix, and student accommodation provider Campus Living Villages.

Outline planning consent was granted for the whole campus’ height and massing in July 2018. Since then, the site has been split for planning purposes between the academic buildings and the student accommodation. This week’s decision gives permission for the design of the student accommodation, with the scheme due to start on-site in mid-2020.

The new campus is intended to be “at the forefront of digital, business and social innovation,” providing teaching and research space for 3,000 students and 800 staff as well as business and community partners.

The buildings’ ground floors will be metal clad to reflect the site’s industrial heritage while the upper floors include a large communal roof terrace, common rooms and a biodiversity roof, as well as living spaces.

The university had rejected Historic England’s concerns over the project saying: “The designs comply with the outline planning consent agreed in July 2018 and have been praised for their high quality by the Bristol Urban Design Forum and the City Design Group.”

Adding, “careful consideration has gone into the proposed layout, landscaping and appearance of the buildings. In particular, the color and materials used for the façade were chosen to reflect and complement the station and the industrial heritage of the site, while also representing the innovation focus of the new campus.”

The university cited the city council’s planning officers report to support its position. While the Bristol Urban Design Forum “wondered whether some horizontal articulation might be beneficial,” its report read: “on balance (we) support the approach being taken.”

The design forum praised the “carefully-considered façade treatment” and the choice of colors, which it said were “very much in keeping with the coloration of the adjacent listed station complex.”

A public consultation on the detailed designs of the public spaces and academic buildings was held in September this year. The reserved matters planning application for this part of the campus is due to be submitted in November, 2019.

For more on this story go to The Architects’ Journal.