Unite student accommodation, Nelson Street

Robust landscaping in an urban environment

Nelson Street is an intensely urbanised area in the centre of Bristol. It is surrounded by high rise buildings and is subject to heavy pedestrian and vehicle flows. In recent years it has been the subject of large-scale graffiti, organised as an exhibition area for the art. This project takes some vacant retail space and converts it into student accommodation, including a common room, landscaped entrance courtyard and cycle parking. In a joint project involving our student accommodation team, landscape architects and planners, we brought forward one of the first schemes in the wider regeneration of an important strategic route.

We worked closely with officers at Bristol City Council to design an exciting frontage that reinvigorates this section of the street consistent with Bristol City Council’s objectives for the area. This includes providing visual interest and vibrancy to the street scene at night as well as during the day.

The landscape scheme injects colour and interest into the space while being robust enough to withstand the heavy pedestrian and cycle flows. External feature lighting further enhances the vibrancy of the area at night.