Historic England says Temple Island student accommodation will block view of Bristol’s coloured houses

Historic England has criticised the design of three tower blocks of student accommodation planned behind Temple Meads claiming they could adversely affect views of the city for train passengers.

Bristol University plans to build three blocks of student flats for nearly 1,000 students have been recommended for approval by Bristol City Council officers.

A decision on whether the scheme will go ahead will be determined at a meeting next week.

It is part of the university’s plans to build a £300million campus on the site behind Temple Meads and part of Temple Island.

The university secured outline planning permission for the entire scheme in 2018.

This application deals with the detailed designs of the residential aspect of the development.

The accommodation is proposed to be arranged over three buildings up to 21-storeys high, and be home to up to 953 students.

But not everyone is happy with final designs, in particular Historic England which has questioned whether the designs are of “sufficient quality”.

In a statement the organisation said: “This is a very prominent site, and its location adjacent to the London-bound platforms at Temple Meads will be the first impression of Bristol to visitors arriving in the city.

“It will screen present views of the attractive colourful terraced houses of Totterdown which though undesignated, are a locally distinctive and well recognised symbol of the city. A site of this prominence demands a development of the highest design quality.

“Based upon the information supplied in support of the application, there is a danger that the proposed buildings may appear as sheer unrelieved monoliths with little sense of refinement in their detail.”

But the university has said the designs have been praised “for their high quality” by the Bristol Urban Design Forum and the City Design Group.

The three residential buildings will be built on the northern part of Temple Island, the other side of the former Royal Mail Sorting Office site which is closer to the station. The building was demolished earlier this year.

This site will eventually be home to the academic buildings of the Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus.

A spokesperson for the University of Bristol said: “The student accommodation, along with the new academic buildings which will replace the old Sorting Office and greet passengers at Bristol Temple Meads, will regenerate a long-neglected central area of the city by creating a welcoming campus in Temple Quarter to benefit the whole city.

“In April, we carried out a substantial consultation on the design of student accommodation to be built on part of Temple Island as part of our new Enterprise Campus.

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“The designs comply with the outline planning consent agreed in July 2018.

“The designs have been praised for their high quality by the Bristol Urban Design Forum and the City Design Group, which have both provided independent feedback to the Council on this scheme.

“Careful consideration has gone into the proposed layout, landscaping and appearance of the buildings.

“In particular, the colour and materials used for the facade were chosen to reflect and complement the station and the industrial heritage of the site, while also representing the innovation focus of the new campus.”

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