New plans for Harbourside submitted

Dec. 20, 2010 - PRLog -- Since Bristol City Council Planning Committee decision to defer the proposed plans for Building 4 at Harbourside in October, Crest Nicholson and its team, has been revising the proposed plans to take on board the comments made by the Committee and local community.

Building 4 is the final residential building within the Harbourside masterplan and its construction would facilitate the important pedestrian link and associated public realm from the Millennium Square to the recently opened Harbour Inlet and views across to SS Great Britain, which has been designed by urban artist Sans Facon.

These revised proposals were presented to City Councillors, the Bristol Civic Society, The Conservation Area Panel, the Harbourside  Forum and local members of the community last week.  The hour long presentation/question time described the significant changes that are proposed after considering the various comments received in October.  Some of these changes include such things as:-

• Lowering the height of the building; the proposed building is now five metres lower than the approved masterplan height for the area; nine metres lower on the prow than the proposals put forward in October and four metres lower than nearby buildings.

• This has resulted in a redesign of the profile of the prow of the building where it meets the historic harbour so that it has less visual impact. The changes improve views of nearby buildings, such as the former Gas Purifier House.
• Reducing the number of apartments in the building from 186 to 177.
• Changing the mix of apartments raising the number of three-bedroom apartments from 10 to 27.

In addition the sustainability credentials of the building were explained in more detail these include such features as:-

• The use of sustainably sourced timber cladding  to respect and enhance the character of the historic City Dock
• The use of reclaimed stone, arches and cobbles  from former gas works buildings within the site
• The harnessing and use of  rainwater run-off  used to establish a rich ecological landscape  within Millennium Promenade and to irrigate the same.
• The incorporation of a 37Kw/hr Photovoltaic array to harness sunlight and convert to electricity for use within the building.

The presentation will be available to down load from the Bristol City Council web site www.bristol.gov.uk          

Debbie Aplin, Managing Director of Crest Nicholson Regeneration, said: “Whilst we were disappointed that the Committee decided to defer our application in October, we have listened carefully and reacted positively to the comments made.   I was encouraged by the recent meeting and the fact that our presentation was well received.  Building 4 and the Millennium Promenade are important pieces of the final jig-saw for Harbourside  and we do hope that all the hard work that has been put in by the Officers and Councillors of Bristol City will result in the revised scheme being approved in January.”