Marlborough House (Marlborough Street) is an uninspired building opposite the central bus station; the outer circuit road dominates it. The building is unlikely to attract another commercial tenant when the current occupiers leave. It makes commercial sense to convert the building to residential accommodation. Following a change in planning law, a change of use from offices to residential use no longer requires planning permission.
The scheme will not involve any substantial change to the size of the building’s exterior envelope. The scheme will change the windows to make them suitable for apartments. It will re-clad the Marlborough Street and Charles Street elevations to make them more interesting and will build a new entrance lobby and façade on the point of the building shown in the photograph. The Society has made a couple of minor suggestions to improve the design. The Society supports this scheme, which will contribute to the Council’s ambition to build 7,000 new homes in the city centre by 2016. The Society’s long term policy has been to support development that encourages the increase of the residential population in the city centre.
Bristol Civic Society’s full statement [PDF, 394KB] Right-click to download, click to view.
John Frenkel
johnfrenkel@blueyonder.co.uk