A new £45m project promises jobs, green space, student homes and a community hub in a bold makeover of a fenced-off industrial site
Illustration of ‘New Henry Yard’ development looking at the junction of Sussex Street and Kingsland Road (image AHMM)
Plans to redevelop a brownfield industrial site in St Philips, next to The Dings, into a new mixed-use scheme look set to go ahead after council officers recommended the planning application is approved.
The developer Dominus is applying to redevelop the site – currently known as Premier Business Park on Sussex Street – with student accommodation and a new community centre.
Its original plan was turned down in June last year over councillors’ concerns about students living on an industrial estate and that there would be too much commercial land lost.
Local businesses opposed the project and Bristol City Council was inundated with objections from around the world because it would have meant the departure of globally-renowned Invisible Circus.
The new application will be considered by members of Bristol City Council ’s development control committee on April 30.
The plans, designed by the Bristol team at architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, are made up of two buildings, both of which would be highly sustainable targeting the demanding BREEAM Excellent standard.
Illustration of ‘New Henry Yard’ development looking at the junction of Sussex Street and Kingsland Road (image AHMM)
The east building – closest to the neighbouring industrial area – will feature a telecoms hub and 60,000 sq ft of flexible employment space suitable for uses such as creative makerspaces, warehousing and storage.
The second building includes 549 managed student homes, a new community hub, a planted courtyard, gym and social/study spaces. The student homes are made up of 284 cluster rooms (52%), 169 studios (31%) and 96 townhouse rooms (17%).
The townhouses were incorporated into the design at the request of the Old Market Community Association. The community hub was included at the request of councillors and the local residents’ association.
The site, called New Henry Yard, sits opposite the Dings residential area and is identified in the Old Market Quarter Neighbourhood Plan for mixed-use regeneration. It is close to the new University of Bristol ’s Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus opening in 2026, where an estimated 4,600 students will study.
Dominus had updated its earlier plans for the site by more than doubling the amount of employment space on site, relocating the community hub and reducing the massing of the scheme closest to neighbouring residents.
Plans for the site include a community hub. Dominus will cover the basic running costs and employ a community liaison officer who will run the space alongside the local community.
Developers say the proposals will improve the site from being a fenced off industrial block and create enhanced pedestrian and cycle connections, including a landscaped pedestrian route through the site, a new cycle connection into the Bristol & Bath Railway Path and two new pedestrian crossings. They say plans will enhance the public realm delivering significant biodiversity net gain and increasing ecology on site.
During construction, it is anticipated that the development will support 500 jobs and boost the local economy by £45 million each year.
When the student building is occupied, it will create up to 170 jobs in the local economy, provide 549 homes for students.