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eei g:
Literary Trail arou d the city ce tre li ki g fa ous writers a d poets led
spe ialist i edu aio studies, Elea o Nes it
Mo day, August
Meet at 6. 0p outside the Lite T ee i Wa E ds at 8p i B oadgate F ee fo e e s; ÂŁ fo isito s
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August 2015
With an ever increasing number of student beds being provided across the city by private companies and landlords, this subject has clearly become emotive and controversial. Yet ÂŁ40 million investment into the city is not to be sniffed at with the latest proposal, a development for 600 flats at Belgrade Plaza. We asked Matthew Ayres from London and Manchester firm of architects, Simpson, Haugh and Partners, who are designers of the scheme, to explain it in detail. In our one-to-one meeting he made the important observation that student flats reduce the pressure to turn family residential areas into student use, and Coventry University is expecting a big increase in student numbers over the next decade or so. Essentially the 600 beds are contained at the Belgrade Theatre end of the site in a 21-storey high block and two lower blocks. This enables the part of the site nearest the listed buildings in Hill Street to be just three-storeys high with outline proposals for two blocks. While some may question the height of buildings in this location, the architects see Leigh Mills Car Park as a very dominant building and the three new high rise buildings have been designed and positioned to overcome this. Materials proposed for the historic Hill Street end are brick, while coloured and natural terra cotta cladding is proposed for the student blocks. This is of good quality, though we queried the use of one colour for each building. We suggested filling in the notches in the upper storeys so the same number of flats can be built with one less storey overall, and asked for the roofline be broken up in other ways such as castellating the top of the building, possibly by varying the colours. The architect was willing to reconsider this element and hopefully submit revised plans. We approve of the several retail units planned for the passageway where existing eating places are well established. We asked whether the roofs next to Bonds Hospital could be pitched rather than flat as shown. But grassed roofs with wild flowers have been built into the scheme so they will absorb rain, preventing more The ie f o Belg ade S ua e sho i g the discharge into the sewers in storm conditions. o t asi g t eat e t of the stude t lat o ple . We also asked why the phase 1 (full planning app) and 2 (outline The e isi g Plaza estau a ts a e to the ight. planning app) abut leaving the buildings windowless where they meet, even though phase 2 may not be built as planned. The architect said this will enable the phase 2 blocks to be set back allowing views of the Ryley Street/Hill Street historic cottages. They plan to fill the space between the pavement and the buildings with trees. On Bond Street itself we approve of the building sited onto the pavement edge itself. On the question of the loss of mature trees on Ryley Street it was explained that replacements with compact roots were seen as essential for the location. The overall impression was of a quality building by an architect and a family-business client experienced in this work. The development is a significant investment in Coventry and likely to be very successful.
A model of the Bond Street scheme showing the outline proposals at the Hill Street end of the site
The ie f o Hill St eet sho i g the do i a t stepped Leigh Mills Ca Pa k ith the high ise stude t lat o ple e o d.
On the day we met with Matthew Ayres, London developers Barberry announced its plans for an 850 bed student complex on the former Royal Mail sorting office site at Bishopgate. We shall be requesting a meeting to discuss their latest proposal.