Huge plans to completely demolish the former Debenhams department store and two other buildings either side and construct two blocks of 520 new homes in their place, have been unveiled by developers. Those behind the scheme said it would create a new pedestrian route from Broadmead to the Bearpit roundabout and create a new ‘northern gateway’ to the city’s retail heart.
Two years since the Debenhams store closed down as the nationwide chain went out of business, there have been no serious takers for the large-scale custom-built department store, and now the firm that owns the land say the future is to start again with a ‘landmark’ 28-storey block of flats.
Also included in the plans is a two-storey community building which the architects and developers say they want to be a library or health centre. The team behind the proposals is holding two consultation events next Monday, June 19.
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The first will be outside the Debenhams store itself between 12 noon and 4pm, so shoppers passing by along the Horsefair can check out the plans and say what they think. There will be a second consultation event online between 6pm and 7.30pm.
The developers are calling the plans ‘Barr Street Bristol’. The aim is to recreate the old medieval Barr Street, which used to connect the Horsefair to the St James Barton junction with Stokes Croft before the wholesale redevelopment of the Broadmead area in the 1950s and 60s saw the building that became Debenhams built, which closed off that route. The Debenhams building, which sits facing down Merchant Street to the centre of Broadmead, would be demolished and the two tower blocks built either side of a pedestrianised street.
One of the buildings on the Primark side would be 28-storeys. The same number of storeys as the taller of two buildings proposed earlier this year if planners give the go-ahead for the Premier Inn hotel on the other side of the Haymarket to be demolished.
On the east side of a recreated Barr Street, developers want to build other buildings of between nine and 12 storeys. A spokesperson for the developers said the Debenhams building was not a practical one to convert, so demolition and rebuild was the better option.
“High Street retail has been in decline for more than a decade and was severely affected by the pandemic,” he said. “This decline in retail saw the closure of Debenhams in May 2021.
“This high street retail decline is a significant challenge facing all areas of the UK including Bristol city centre. At the same time Bristol faces a continuing housing crisis,” he added.
“Two years after Bristol’s Debenhams shut its doors for the final time, proposals have been revealed for more than 500 new homes set above a lively, new, tree-lined pedestrian retail street – reinstating the historic Barr’s Street - connecting Broadmead to the Bearpit.
“The redevelopment would transform the site into a green, attractive, safe and vibrant place with 1,420m² of the site opened up as public open space. The target is for more than 100 of the homes to be affordable apartments to rent.
“Because of the significant 4.5 metre level change - dropping down towards The Horsefair -there will be a wheelchair and pushchair-friendly path, winding through green landscaping. This will sit alongside a more direct route with sets of stairs. “With extensive landscaping and tree planting this new route would become a destination in its own right with cafes and restaurants spilling onto the pedestrianised street.
“Currently the existing building prevents any movement through the site. The proposed redevelopment – which would see the existing and two smaller adjacent buildings removed - would transform the site, creating a vibrant place that is accessible, permeable, safe and attractive. The scheme would see an increase of 50 per cent in so-called ‘active frontages’, with ground floor commercial spaces proposed on the corners of The Horsefair, St James Barton roundabout frontage and along the new Barr’s Street. One of the ground floor spaces would be made available to a new, local independent business at a discounted rent," he said.
“A two storey community space - fronting onto St James Barton roundabout – is also proposed. This could include a new library and or health centre. The scheme comprises buildings set either side of the 18 metre wide Barr’s Street. These buildings are between 9 and 12 storeys, with the upper storeys set back, mimicking the Primark building,” he added.
Bristol’s policy for larger developments is that at least 20 per cent of any homes built must be ‘affordable’ - which would mean 104 of the 520 should be designated to a housing association to rent out.
The plans are the latest in what will be a radical transformation of Bristol city centre - the biggest since the post-war rebuild saw the creation of Broadmead, the Bearpit roundabout, Castle Park and, later, the Galleries shopping centre and Cabot Circus.
As well as the demolition and rebuild of Debenhams, there are also plans to demolish The Galleries and create a new area of flats, shops and bars, and demolish the Premier Inn at the Bearpit, and the Rupert Street multi-storey car park to be replaced by 'Co-living' and student accommodation, as well as plans for an even taller tower block on the east side of Castle Park, next to the recently-built Castle Park View.
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