Water Lilies, Kingsweston, Bristol
Residential
In 2016 we were flattered to be approached by Dr Steffie Broer of Bright Green Futures who had recently completed a co-living scheme at The Courtyard in Lower Cheltenham Place in Bristol’s Bohemian St Werburghs. On the strength of her enthusiasm for the Clifton lido, Steffie wanted us to work on a new residential scheme on a site near Kingsweston, on the north-west side of Bristol. Little did we know what obstacles would be thrown in the way of this exciting new project on 0.5 Ha of steeply sloping brownfield land with a massive brick and concrete reservoir at its centre. Now in 2024, a new community of nearly 100 people of all ages lives in 21 houses and 12 flats surrounding a communal garden built on top of the old reservoir structure, which is now a car park.
Delays began with Planning (which took 19 months in spite of no significant objections and widespread support) followed by the Covid pandemic, which kicked in simultaneously with the start on site in spring 2020, Brexit delays to imported goods, global timber shortages (not ideal for timber frame scheme) and complicated funding. All were finally overcome.
The dream of a community living in state of the art dwellings gathered together in its own surroundings is finally a reality. The tenacity of both Bright Green Futures and Contractor Dove Construction were both essential to the eventual outcome.
The homes’ shell structure completed by the Main Contractor comprise timber frames externally clad in insulation and air-tight membranes, eliminating the need for vulnerable vapour control membranes, reducing cutting and improving visible control of both insulation and membrane continuity. The resulting buildings have air-tightness of less than 2 cu m/hr/ sq m (B Regs accepts 8) and wall and roof U Values of 0.13-15 W/ sq m/ deg C.
Each house and flat was individually designed in conjunction with the owners-to-to be. Although sadly many fell by the wayside as delays took their toll, happily others were there to take their places, and now a hundred residents from babies to retirees, and all stages in between, live in a group of buildings with a genuinely “organic” feel to it, the variety and richness deriving not from the arbitrary variety of shapes and materials so beloved of the Planners, but from the different sizes, arrangements and locations of the thirty-three dwellings. Each has its own small private garden or balcony (some have both) and access to the communal garden and the Hub Building, a sort of residents’ ‘village hall’ all completely separated from vehicular circulation and the car park below the garden.
At a time when Government is rightly and belatedly looking at ways of creating affordable sustainable homes at reasonable density, (as opposed to spec house builder greenfield noddy box density) Water Lilies’ 66 dwellings per hectare, each with private gardens and all with access to a generous communal garden shows what can be done with the vision of a developer whose priorities are sustainability, community and variety as opposed to laziness, greed and monotony.
