APPROVAL FOR SUSTAINABLE APARTMENTS
Planning permission has been granted for a luxury residential development of 93 sustainable apartments for over 65s on The Bishops Avenue, by Hampstead Heath. Designed by multi-disciplinary design practice, rg+p for retirement living developer, Riverstone, the approved scheme comprises a four-six storey building. The 93 apartments are a mix of one-four bedroom properties together with extensive amenities including swimming pool, sauna and steam room; ballroom; gym; cinema; salon and treatment rooms; concierge and coffee lounge; restaurant and bar with outdoor terrace; library; cycle storage and off-street parking. The interior concept and design have been prepared by Bowler James Brindley.
CITY-BASED WELLBEING RESORT
Global developer Therme Group unveiled updated plans for Therme Manchester, the UK’s first city-based wellbeing resort at TraffordCity in Manchester. Therme Group is working in partnership with Peel L&P to deliver the project, at a cost of over £250 million and builds upon many exciting elements in the existing planning consent. In addition to a ‘next generation’ waterpark, thermal bathing and a wellbeing spa, these include immersive digital art, an on-site urban farm and botanical gardens. This combination of features highlights Therme’s aim to be far more than just a waterpark and spa, but to create an integrated experience to benefit physical and mental health. The updated plans adopt the very latest technology to make the development even more sustainable and deliver additional exciting features for visitors. They involve a greater integration of biophilic design elements, including double-curved roofs, which reduce the amount of steel required, increasing the sustainability of the development. Construction of the development is scheduled to begin in 2023, with a build time of around two years.
AFFORDABLE ECO HOMES
Plans have been submitted for Bristol’s innovative new concept in affordable housing – the Gap House – to be built on a council-owned disused garage plot in the city. The eco-homes have been commissioned and funded by Bristol City Council and designed by interdisciplinary design practice BDP in partnership with the Bristol Housing Festival, for a site in Horfield in the north of the city. If the project is a success the council will potentially be identifying further sites for Gap Houses in the future. The plans propose a row of nine affordable, one-bedroom, two-storey, modularly constructed homes. The site sits between two rows of back gardens of existing homes and will include green space and outdoor seating in front of each home to encourage social interaction and community cohesion. The Gap Houses will be contemporary, cost effective, eco-friendly homes, largely factory-built using modern methods of construction (MMC), in order to minimise disruption in the existing neighbourhood.
