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The proposals

With the current convent and care home use of St Joseph’s having ceased with the site being sold in 2025, south-west based property company, Harringay Real Estate, is proposing the sensitive refurbishment and reconfiguration of the existing convent and care home building, as well as a separate ancillary building to the rear (the former laundry) to provide purpose-built student accommodation at a highly sustainable location. The proposal does not involve significant external alterations to the existing building, and instead involves internal refurbishment and reconfiguration, as well as some rearrangement of the grounds to provide appropriate staff and disabled parking, refuse storage, cycle parking and a communal garden.

The proposed change of use application and reconfiguration would provide:

• 132 dedicated student rooms (104 studios with the remaining 28 rooms within 5 cluster flats) across the main building and the former laundry).
• At least 7 of the studios will be accessible in line with part M of Building Regulations.
• Communal facilities for recreation and socialising, including a gym, cinema room, study spaces, meeting rooms and a resident laundry.
• A landscaped communal garden for students to relax, meet and socialise.
• A car-free development reflecting the site’s highly sustainable location, with limited parking for staff and disabled students only.
• Residents will be ineligible to apply for residents parking permits in the local area.
• A travel plan to promote sustainable modes of transport, and the potential for contractual restrictions preventing students from keeping a car in Bristol.
• A low carbon opportunity to provide much-needed student accommodation, with no new building required and improvements to fenestration and upgrades to building performance delivering an enhancement to the building’s sustainability in use.

Floor plans showing how the student accommodation could be laid out - click to open image gallery

About the site

The site comprises a four-storey convent and care home building which was originally constructed in 1860. This impressive building occupies the southern part of the site facing Cotham Hill and would be sensitively internally refurbished as part of the proposals, with no external alterations to the building. To the rear of this building is a chapel which will be sensitively reconfigured as part of the proposals to provide amenity space. 

Behind the convent building is a separate building which was the former laundry for the care home. This is an attractive two-storey building which will also be refurbished as part of the proposals.

The buildings are set within beautifully landscaped grounds, which will be retained as a communal garden for residents.

The proposed site layout, with no significant change to the current arrangement of the site - click to enlarge

Connectivity

The site occupies a highly sustainable location for the provision of student accommodation, with the main University of Bristol campus located a short 9-minute walk away. Bus routes on Cotham Hill provide access to both the University of West of England campus and to Temple Meads for rail connections and the new Temple Quarter Campus. In addition to bus links, Temple Meads is also easily accessible via nearby local stations such as Clifton Down, Redland and Montpelier.

Given the site’s sustainable location, the development is proposed to be largely car free, with limited parking provided only for staff and disabled students, accessed via the main gate from Cotham Hill. Dedicated cycle storage is proposed as part of the proposals, providing space for 34 bicycles, with a further 12 bike spaces for visitors A travel plan forms part of the planning application, promoting sustainable modes of transport. It is expected that once operational, contractual restrictions can be placed on occupants preventing them from keeping a car in Bristol. Furthermore, student residents would be ineligible to apply for residents parking permits in the local area. 

Sustainability

As set out above, the site’s sustainable location provides extensive opportunities for active travel, and to reflect this secure bicycle storage is proposed from 34 bicycles with a further 12 bike parking spaces for visitors. However, with the University of Bristol and University Hospitals located within a ten-minute walk, it is envisaged that most journeys would be undertaken on foot. Given the sustainable location, the development will be car free except for limited parking for staff and disabled students.

The opportunity to reuse an existing building rather than a new-build to provide much-needed student accommodation, with adaptations to external fenestration to improve efficiency, will result in a low embodied carbon development. In addition, upgrades to the building performance will benefit its sustainability in use and the longevity of the building overall.

Planning application

Thank you to all who took part in our online consultation during March 2026. Following the consultation and ongoing technical work, we have now submitted a planning application for the proposed change of use for St Joseph’s, Cotham Hill, to provide purpose-built student accommodation.

As set out above, the plans have evolved slightly following the community consultation, with some of the student rooms now being provided in cluster flats in addition to studios. Additional amenity space is also proposed.

As before, the development will be largely car free. Student residents will be contractually prohibited from keep a car locally and will be ineligible to apply for residents parking permits in the local area (unlike residents in HMOs in the private rented sector). Parking will only be provided for a staff and disabled students.

The full planning application can be viewed on Bristol City Council planning portal here, quoting reference 26/11841/F.

You can continue to get in touch with our project team with any queries via our contact form or by emailing hello@stjosephscothamhill.co.uk or calling 01225 667097.