Breathing new life into the heart of Bristol

Hydrock is on the design team for a stunning new residential development in an area ready for regeneration in the heart of Bristol.

Working with long-standing clients Urbis Living and architects Origin 3 Studio, we are providing multi-disciplinary services for the striking new £23m project in Bedminster.

Planning permission for St Catherine’s Place was recently granted for the 16-storey development with assistance from Hydrock teams from Structures, Building Performance Engineering, Civils, Flood Risk and Highways and Traffic Planning.

The 188-apartment tower development is the first high rise project in this part of Bristol and it sets new precedents for planning in the city. It is also hoped it will be a springboard for further regeneration of the nearby shopping precinct adjoining the site and the general area.

A major element of the project is a new district heating system, being designed by Hydrock’s Building Performance Engineering Team.

Technical Director Graeme Smith said: “The building will be engineered using fabric-first principles to provide high comfort, quality, low running-cost homes. A key feature of the development will be the use of a centralised district heating system using biomass and/or combined heat and power systems. This will be the lead heat source with scope to supply both the residential and retail development and potentially be extended to serve other properties, the first of its kind in central Bristol.”

Structural Engineering Technical Director Roger Bareham was delighted to get the go ahead for this project and is looking forward to the engineering challenges that this stunning project will present.

Hydrock has started on the engineering designs with construction anticipated to start in 2016.