Design aims

A review of the existing buildings and the site, informed by local involvement and financial viability, has led us to the following design aims/strategy:

• Retain majority of the existing buildings, returning largely to the massing of the 1950’s factory.
• Include a rich mix with a variety of residential, workspace, leisure and retail with a highly sustainable agenda.
• Relate both to the existing community and to the Bristol/ Bath cycle path and develop the factory as a local facility and destination, forming a business, retail and leisure hub principally serving Greenbank and cycle path users.
• Utilise the covered haulingways as the vibrant pedestrian circulation for the existing buildings.
• Maximise the number of family houses on the vacant land surrounding the existing buildings.
• Develop a prototype ‘cycle-house’ that overlooks and has direct access to the cycle path.
• Develop a transport and parking strategy that serves the above while minimising/mitigating impact on the local environment.

Since the exhibition in April Squarepeg have agreed to acquire the triangular piece of land to the south of Greenbank Road and additional railway embankment land to the east of the site. This allows the scrub land and the land of the current Elizabeth Shaw car park to be designed as one intergrated scheme and provide additional family housing. The scheme now has 47 houses, over 20% of the overall residential accommodation.

Following feedback from the April exhibition the tower has reduced in height and has moved from behind Building 2 to a location at the junction of the cycle path and the square. This building we call the “Cycle Dock” is now a landmark on the cycle path and signifies the entrance to the Square.

Axonometric model of the site