Our mixed-use scheme at Widcombe Hill, Bath, is now complete, providing much-needed student housing and a community social club. It is designed to regenerate the site of the existing Widcombe Social Club.
By demolishing the original low rise building and replacing it with one more befitting the urban context, it has ensured the most efficient use of this key site adjacent to city centre.
The replacement Social Club is contained at the eastern end of the site over three floors. The team has worked closely with the Committee members of the Social Club to design and deliver a sustainable, adaptable building that can meet a variety of needs. Traditional functions, such as skittles, darts and snooker/pool can be incorporated, however, the spaces have been designed so that other uses can be easily provided, ensuring the club is used on a more regular basis.
A framed structure was utilised so that the accommodation could provide a flexible layout to suit the needs of its uses. There is a small external balcony that offers stunning views overlooking the canal.
The 40 bedroom scheme is located adjacent the Kennet and Avon canal in the Widcombe area of Bath, approximately 5 minutes’ walk from Bath Spa railway station, ideally situated for city centre amenities and transport links to the two universities.
Due to its prominent location within the Bath Conservation area and World Heritage Site, the design and materials had to be of a high quality in order to meet the local authority’s aspirations. This represented an interesting design challenge, in that there were three distinct characters to respond to.
Firstly there was the ‘high street’ elevation; the materiality massing and fenestration is a contemporary response to the patterns of the predominantly Georgian urban context, therefore Ashlar Bath stone was used to reflect this. Secondly, the the Widcombe Hill elevation, where a rubble stone ‘plinth’ has been employed to articulate the way that the building ‘steps’ up the hill. The third characteristic zone is the semi-rural quality of the waterside setting. Here we employed more informal massing and materiality. The roof form is historically typical of dockside developments and the proposed materials, predominantly timber and rubble stone, offer an industrial feel.
The scheme was developed in close liaison with Bath and North East Somerset council, from initial pre-application discussions through a number of design options until the eventual granting of planning permission.
The contemporary contextual design takes its cue from the Georgian architecture of Widcombe high street, the adjacent Church and the more informal character of typical wharfside buildings. Full height windows take advantage of the stunning panoramic views across the canal and city roofscape.
The drawn information for this project was all produced using BIM software (Revit), and during the second phase of the construction, the primary structural elements were also modelled in this way, enabling a high level of pre-construction co-ordination.
Stride Treglown was novated to the contractor Ikon Construction to assist with the delivery of this scheme. The first phase was on a tight 6 month programme, in order to complete before the start of the university term, September 2014. The Social Club element was then completed in spring 2016.
