The proposals
With the current convent and care home use of St Joseph’s winding down, 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:
- Up to 131 dedicated student studios (123 within the main building and a further 8 in the former laundry).
- At least 7 of the studios will be accessible in line with part M of Building Regulations. It is currently proposed that 5 of these would be at ground floor level, with a further 2 adjacent to the lift on upper floors.
- 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.
- 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 enlarge
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
The former chapel to the rear of the main care home building will be sensitively reconfigured to provide amenity space for residents - click images 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. A travel plan will form part of the planning application, promoting sustainable modes of transport. It is also expected that once operational, contractual restrictions can be placed on occupants preventing them from keeping a car in Bristol.
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. 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.
Have your say
We would welcome your feedback on our proposed re-use of St Joseph’s Cotham Hill. Once you have had an opportunity to review the information above and view the proposals in their local context on our interactive map, please take a moment to complete our short feedback form.
If you have any questions, please refer to our frequently asked questions page or get in touch with our consultation team.
