housing

Bristol International Student Centre: Complete

gcp has just completed a much-needed facelift to the Bristol International Student Centre, a charity that offers accommodation for international students neighbouring Bristol University.

Improvements were needed to maintain the Centre’s HMO licence. gcp reconfigured internal spaces to meet current standards and specified upgrades to ensure safe escape routes from the first floor bedrooms, including lining the existing ceiling to provide better acoustics and fire protection. The work has resulted in increased flexibility for BISC and privacy for the residents.

We are incredibly proud of the outcome, having given the building a new lease of life and assisted a fantastic charity in offering the best possible accommodation to provide a home away from home for international students.

We worked closely with contractor Creative Construction and were incredibly impressed by their attention to detail and ability to tackle unexpected issues arising on site.

Sunny brickwork at Oakfield


A few weeks ago we jumped at the opportunity to take a few snaps of Nationwide Building Society’s Oakfield development in Swindon as the sun made a rare appearance. We spent some time appreciating the details which really make this scheme sing. The variety of brick detail, brick bonds, and brick specification gives each terrace a unique character whilst at the same time creating a strong identity for the 239 home development as a whole.


Part of our role as delivery stage architects is to facilitate efficient construction. We painstakingly set out each brick configuration to limit the number of cut bricks required and therefore minimise waste. Which makes seeing the fantastic results all the sweeter!

 

For more info about the scheme, click here

 


Planning Awarded: Staunton

Planning granted by Forest of Dean District Council for a development of 20 affordable homes in Staunton!

gcp is working with Two Rivers Housing to redevelop a site currently used for sheltered housing. The existing 1960s buildings provided poor quality accommodation and did not meet the standard of homes that Two Rivers aim to provide to their tenants. Following consultation with remaining residents, it was decided to redevelop the land so that better quality homes can be created. The design proposal by gcp, which was granted planning consent last month, will provide a mix of accommodation including bungalows, flats and houses. Whilst continuing to provide homes for older tenants, the scheme will create a more mixed community that reflects the nature of surrounding homes and local housing need. The new homes will feature renewable technologies including heat pumps and solar panels to reduce carbon emissions and provide low energy costs for tenants.

Brooks Dye Works complete! Regeneration at the heart of St Werburghs. Bristol.

Brooks Dye Works sits within the dense Victorian terraced streets of St Werburghs in central Bristol. With an industrial use dating back to the 19th century and its distinctive 39m high brick chimney providing an important landmark for the surrounding area, the site is a key regeneration project in this part of the city. Acorn achieved planning approval for a development of 89 homes, new highways and public open space in 2017 and needed to deliver a complex project with challenging technical requirements. Our previous work with Acorn and our knowledge of this area of the city (illustrated by our completed projects closely adjacent to the site) gave Acorn the confidence to appoint gcp as their Architect for the following stages of the project. Brooks Dye Works has been a major part of our office life for the subsequent 5 years, as we worked closely with Acorn’s design team and Halsall Construction, the contractor delivering the site works at Brooks.

Acorn have high production values and a clear concept for their product, wanting to provide high quality contemporary homes that are attractive, flexible and efficient. These are values very much shared by gcp, and our pragmatic approach, backed up with excellent design and technical knowledge, supported the delivery of this project on multiple levels. Our principal responsibility was in optimising the design and developing the construction solutions to deliver the product Acorn envisaged. In addition, we managed the complex planning implications and discharges required by the planning approval. Our consulting team managed the energy assessment and certification of performance to ensure delivery of new homes that are energy efficient and incorporate renewable energy systems to reduce carbon emissions.

For our team, the project has strong personal connections also – anything you work on continuously for 5 years leaves a mark!

Siobhán Tarr, our Senior Technologist, has led the technical design from inception to completion, applying her knowledge and rigour to all aspects of the design. She says;

Having grown up in Bristol I am always interested in my city and how the regeneration of different areas enhances my hometown. I have friends who live in St Werburghs and have spent many hours exploring the surrounding streets, so it was great to play a part in the regeneration of this area. I’m looking forward to exploring some higher vantage points to get a different view of the scheme and really see it nestled within the streets I already know. The chimney is a feature I love, it’s fun moving around the area and aligning it with different views of the streets and the new homes. I am so pleased to see residents moving in and making the place their own with the individuality that is so characteristic of the area.”

Colin Powell, Energy Architect at gcp, has managed the planning approvals and consents throughout the project. He says;

We have always built our business around relationships with people and I was so pleased to work with Acorn again on this project. As a client they take a close interest in every aspect of a project, bringing a clear focus on design quality and practical solutions that I like to think is an area we excel in. I think this is possibly one of the most complex planning approvals I have managed, and keeping track of the different consents, new applications, conditions and discharges has been quite a logistical challenge. The completed project is a credit to everyone involved and as the development matures it will fit seamlessly into the surrounding community and the dense urban character of this part of the city.”

And our joint favourite moment;

The Brooks ducks and ducklings, who waddled through the construction works on a regular basis, oblivious to the construction activities, making their way to the new Pond in Mina Park. Hopefully the residents will get to enjoy a new duckling family every year.

Awards:

Residential Development of the Year (Bristol Property Awards 2021);

Small Residential Development of the Year (South West Residential Property Awards 2022)


 

 

New Homes for People in Pill

Chapel Pill | Image prepared for Community Consultation

Chapel Pill | Image prepared for Community Consultation

A planning application has been submitted by gcp Chartered Architects on behalf of Pill & District Community Land Trust in partnership with Alliance Homes. We really enjoy the satisfaction of helping to realise the objectives of local community leaders, whose knowledge and passion for their local area is so instrumental in creating opportunities for affordable homes for local people. The site at Chapel Pill is in a sensitive location, on a steeply sloping site on the edge of the settlement. Achieving practical access for both cars and pedestrians, minimising visual impact, and enhancing natural habitats have been very real concerns. Opinion was split between those who opposed the development due to concern over impact on a sensitive green-belt location, and supporters who see the need for affordable houses in a community where it is increasingly difficult for local people to afford their own home. 

 

The project team have put a great deal of effort into understanding the context and constraints of the site and developing a solution to address these issues.  gcp’s design response creates a group of 14 high quality homes that are compact in form to minimise impact on the green belt, sensitively landscaped to bring biodiversity enhancements, and provide affordable homes with very low energy bills.

2020 Favourites: Brooks Dye Works

I’ve been involved with the Brooks scheme for about 3 years now, throughout tender design stage to detailed construction, and we are due to handover the first block to the Acorn team before Christmas! It is one of our biggest Revit projects and has been beneficial in developing our strategies, which I am thankful for.

The development is really coming together on site, with the build progress allowing you to imagine the completed scheme. Seeing the finished coloured renders along Southey Street has really made me smile!
— Siobhan Tarr, gcp
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We asked everyone in the office to name their favourite project of 2020. Siobhan has been involved in delivery several of our larger schemes. Her favourite this year has been the exciting scheme in St Werburghs, delivering 105 dwellings by Halsall for Acron.

2020 Favourites: Malvern

We were appointed to support the delivery of 14 homes, located next to several Grade II listed buildings. What seemed like a straightforward project, turned out to be quite challenging with a long process of selecting appropriate materials, detailing complex junctions and delays on site due to weather conditions then Covid-19. Despite the many challenges faced, this was a fantastic learning opportunity for me as it was the first project I have lead at construction stage (with fantastic support from 2 others at gcp). I enjoyed attending site meetings and seeing the progress each time I visited site. CTS have been great to work with and have built fantastic, high quality homes
— Esther Brown, gcp
Photo credit: Zest Home Staging for Broadway Herritage

Photo credit: Zest Home Staging for Broadway Herritage

We asked everyone in the office to name their favourite project of 2020. Esther chose the completion of 14 dwelling residential scheme in Malvern.

The Willows, Corbet Close

Over the past few years, we have been working with Curo on 2 projects in Lawrence Weston, helping them develop 185 new homes over the next few years. Century Park, Henacre will provide 128 new homes of which 30% will be affordable and The Willows will provide 57, 100% affordable homes.


We are thrilled that planning for the Willows, originally known as Corbet Close, was granted last month (July) after a long planning process.


The development, split over three connected parcels of land, contains a mix of houses and apartments and includes unused office space which will be converted to residential use. The Willows brings a unique identity with the use of coloured panels around entrances and bay windows. The office building, which sits in the middle, is to be reclad to visually tie the new accommodation together. 


The Willows, Corbet Close - Entrance

The Willows, Corbet Close - Entrance

Esther has worked on the project for 18 months. Here is what she says about her time on the project and the issues the team faced.



Most architecture practices will understand there is always one project in the office that has been running for years, with changes in size and brief, with almost every member of staff having worked on it at some point. This was one of those schemes, but in 2017, a brief was finalised when Curo agreed the purchase of the 3rd parcel of land, finally defining the size of the project.  



This was one of the first schemes I started on when I joined gcp and, although there have been some ups and downs, I have loved seeing the project through, and so pleased to have finally received planning. I had never quite understood the complexity a project like this brings and the time it would take from submitting a design to getting an approval 11 months later. 



I believe there were two main constraints that defined the scheme. Firstly, we needed to ensure the development was unified, using similar materials and detailing to give a connected character across the three sites. The other main constraint was to  integrate the surrounding public realm and existing footpath through the site into a development that aimed to produce a high-density of new homes on a restricted site. The site is bounded on one side by a busy main road and on the other by a narrow street; Corbet Close, which is a main route to the local primary school. The local neighbourhood planning group, Ambition Lawrence Weston, also stressed their desire for houses in preference to apartments.  This gave us a lot to consider and some conflicting requirements to resolve in a constrained site.

 

Through innovative design, we achieved a mix of accommodation with houses and maisonettes on one parcel, refurbished apartments in the old office building, and apartments and maisonettes on the final parcel of land. We widened the existing narrow public footpath that runs through the centre of the site to form a landscaped ‘pedestrian street’ creating a safer, more attractive route for pedestrians. We are really happy with the finished design which creates an exciting new pedestrian route and uses colour and materials to unify the three sites whilst maintaining their separate characters.

 

As with most of our projects, working with the local community is an important part of the planning process. gcp supported a number of consultations with local community and the neighbourhood planning group, endeavouring to respond to the concerns that people have when new development is proposed. Whilst there were concerns over highways issues and traffic generation, the community was also strongly in favour of more affordable homes, particularly as the scheme will include a number of shared-ownership homes that offer affordable routes to home ownership.

The Willows, Corbet Close - Road View

The Willows, Corbet Close - Road View

 

Colin, a director at gcp, was lead on both this project and Century Park.

 

It was good to work with Curo on these projects – they are one of our most long-standing clients and their aspiration for these sites is to deliver high quality designs that make a positive contribution to the local area. Having a client with high expectations of the design team is a great starting point and makes our job more satisfying.

 

My favourite part of the Willows will be the new pedestrian street.  The first time I walked through the existing path, I thought what it would have been like if my children had to use this route to get to school. It felt narrow, enclosed and on a dull day would be dark and uninviting. The new street we have developed will be wider, more open and overlooked and will incorporate landscape, public art and places to sit and chat.  I think this will be a lovely space and provide a connection where both the new and existing community can meet.  

The Willows, Corbet Close - Maisonettes

The Willows, Corbet Close - Maisonettes

#throwbackthursday: West Street, Bedminster

This project proves what is possible when partners work together to deliver services where they’re most needed. This initiative provides both quality affordable housing and an opportunity to find work for men and women who have served this country and now need support to re-establish themselves in the community
— Jay Lambe, Area Manager of the HCA (Bouygues UK Article)
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On the anniversary of the opening of our project at West Street, Bedminster, we thought we’d take a look back at this project. Colin Powell, gcp Director and Architect on this project says:

The site at West Road Bedminster was a challenging project – a tight infill development of a site that had previously been used for various purposes including car repairs and the sale of garden buildings.

The site is closely overlooked by terraced housing on three sides and has some very large retaining structures on the side and rear boundaries. These are the sort of issues that make urban infills difficult and expensive.

West St_Edit1.jpg

For the client it was important to achieve a minimum level of development to make the site financially viable and the first design challenge for gcp was to find a form of development that could deliver the right number of homes whilst recognising these constraints.

gcp’s solution was to step the buildings across the site, using the site levels to reduce the height of buildings in the rear of the site whilst maintaining the higher storey height of the buildings on West Street. This creative approach to levels, reducing the impact of overlooking in the back of the site and the risk of adverse effects on the retained boundaries, delivered the number of homes needed whilst creating a neighbourly development.

Coming up with good solutions for sites like this is one of the more satisfying aspects of what we do.  Knowing that the project was creating homes and training opportunities for homeless ex-servicemen made this an extra-special project and it was a privilege to have played a part on the successful delivery of these homes.

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True partnership working has been paramount in bringing West Street through from an idea to a reality. We’re really pleased to have been part of such a pioneering project. Now that the project is complete, our Supported Housing team is looking forward to offering ongoing support to the new residents of West Street.
— Nick Horne, Chief Executive of Knightstone (Bouygues UK Article)

Mark Affordable Housing wins Somerset LABC Award

Recently completed affordable rural housing designed by gcp Chartered Architects has won the ‘Best Affordable Housing’ category in the Somerset Local Authority Building Control Awards. The project, designed for South Western Housing Society and built by EG Carter Construction, provides 12 new homes for local families. gcp designed the homes to be comfortable and cheap to run, incorporating high levels of insulation with heating and hot water provided by ground-sourced heat pumps. Residents will enjoy low energy costs from a simple technology that is easy to operate and maintain.

Winner – Best Affordable Housing

Winner – Best Affordable Housing

Handover at Mark, Somerset

Our latest rural housing scheme was handed over this week at Mark, Somerset.

The 10 new homes for South Western Housing Society are located on the edge of the village and form a lovely courtyard development providing a range of homes that include bungalows, houses and apartments, to cater for a range of housing needs.

The development is already fully let to people from the local area - excited to be moving in to these light and spacious homes. The development has been constructed by EG Carter Construction with a really excellent standard of finish. The homes have heating and hot water provided by Ground-Source Heat Pumps; which will keep energy costs to a minimum.

This development provides an excellent benchmark for affordable rural housing.

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gcp team shortlisted for Southmead Development Trust Competition

Competition Display Boards for Glencoyne Square Redevelopment

Southmead Development Trust invited architects and design teams to register their interest in taking part in a limited design competition for the redevelopment of the Glencoyne Square area of Southmead.

gcp Chartered Architects teamed up with Alec French Architects and McGregor Coxall Landscape and Urban Design Consultants to prepare a strong submission from Bristol-based design companies. The team was one of four shortlisted practices selected to develop their ideas through to a public and stakeholder consultation carried out over three days last week. This exercise created good interest from stakeholders and the local community, where there is an enthusiasm to support change and develop new facilities around the Glencoyne Square area. This exciting project could have wide-ranging benefits, supporting community organisations, local shops and traders, creating opportunities for new housing and community facilities and regenerating the infrastructure of the area.

All four design teams were challenged to explain and justify their ideas and approach. Southmead Development Trust are expected to announce a preferred design team to move forward for the next stage of the project that will include detailed consultation and planning applications.

Public consultation underway at the Greenway Centre

Public consultation underway at the Greenway Centre

Planning Application registered for 128 new homes in Lawrence Weston

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gcp have been appointed by Curo Group to develop proposals for two large residential developments in Lawrence Weston which will deliver much needed affordable homes for sale and rent in this part of the city. The first main site for 128 new homes has been developed following detailed consultation with Bristol City Council and the local community.

Working closely with Curo Group and Planning Consultants GL Hearn, gcp developed detailed proposals that have been submitted and registered for planning consideration. This project will create a range of family homes in a landscaped setting that will provide a great place to live and excellent affordability for young people looking for their first property.

Site plan showing new homes and landscape setting.

Site plan showing new homes and landscape setting.

Consultations for 185 new homes in Lawrence Weston

gcp have been appointed by Curo Group to develop proposals for two large residential developments in Lawrence Weston, which will deliver 185 new homes in this part of the city. The proposals at Henacre Road and Corbet Close will provide a mix of new homes for sale, affordable rent and shared ownership. Lawrence Weston is one of the first areas in the city to have adopted its own Neighbourhood Development Plan and both sites are key to delivering the residential objectives of this plan.

Having had detailed discussions with Ambition Lawrence Weston; the local neighbourhood planning group, the proposals were presented to the wider community at two separate open consultations in March. The proposals were generally well received with useful feedback and comments from the local community – with a lot of interest expressed in the opportunity that new affordable homes for sale and shared ownership will give to local families.

Further details of the consultations for Corbet Close and Henacre Road are available on the Curo Developments pages at https://www.curo-group.co.uk/house-building/schemes/

Careful inspection of proposals at a well-attended consultation

Careful inspection of proposals at a well-attended consultation

Consultation boards set up & ready to receive feedback at Corbet Close

Consultation boards set up & ready to receive feedback at Corbet Close

Mapping new homes in Bristol

Junction 3 mixed use, brownfield development in central Bristol

The Architecture Centre along with UWE Architecture & Planning students have undertaken a mapping exercise of new housing across Bristol that highlights the variety of methods of delivery. Available as a downloadable summary report, a series of case studies from individual dwellings through to large scale developments are explored, they include Torpoint and Junction 3 that were delivered by gcp Chartered Architects.