“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”
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.
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.
“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.”