News / Development
More flats in co-living tower block would be ‘recipe for disaster’
Plans to fit more rooms into Bristol’s first major co-living tower block have been put on hold amid concerns that it is a “recipe for disaster” for residents’ mental health.
The city council’s development control committee voted 6-2 to defer a bid by the developers to scrap the communal kitchens and dining areas on each floor and make the occupants go to the 16th and 17th levels where the shared spaces would now be.
The huge new St James Square complex also includes student flats in buildings between 15 and 28 storeys on the site of the former Premier Inn overlooking the Bearpit, with the hotel currently being demolished to make way for what could become Bristol’s tallest building.
is needed now More than ever
The developers, Olympian Homes, applied to vary a number of conditions that came with planning permission granted in 2024.
These included increasing the number of rooms from 132 to 150 in the co-living building and removing its proposed balconies, with planning officers having recommended approving the changes and the Health & Safety Executive also agreeing to the change.
The applicants’ planning agent Craig O’Brien told the meeting that the changes are largely internal and include additional smoke shafts required by law and recent fire regulations.
O’Brien said: “These smoke shafts have reduced the size of the shared kitchens/diners on each floor, making them much less usable, so instead we propose to use those spaces as studios and relocate that space, dedicating the entire 16th and 17th floors to much larger shared spaces including kitchens for communal dining.”
The 28-storey high tower as part of the St James Square development could become Bristol’s tallest building – image: Olympian Homes
Green councillor Serena Ralston said she was “not very impressed”, calling the changes a “very disingenuous attempt to squeeze in 18 more units”.
She said: “I’m really concerned that all the amenity space is going to be on the top floors, so everyone is going to have to make their way up to those floors.
“There will be no amenity space on individual floors which is going to be very isolating so this is quite a major change.
“I don’t think this is minor and I’m not happy.”
Labour councillor Zoe Peat added: “The loss of amenity is huge. There’s a huge risk that the kitchens will become overcrowded.
“Is it really fair to make someone with a disability go up to the top floor just to make their dinner?
“The more people you put in an environment, the more you’re going to have differences. You don’t know who you’re going to go into this with. It’s a recipe for disaster.”
A Bristol City Council planning officer told councillors that there “has been some confusion here”.
“The co-living block is individual studios and each will have its own private kitchen, so there will be no need for anyone to get to a kitchen.
“It will be small but they will have individual kitchens and there will be additional communal kitchens.”
Conservative councillor Richard Eddy added: “This is quite a modest proposal. It wouldn’t cause a significant difficulty.
“With their legal requirement it makes sense for the committee to support it.
“This applicant has got planning consent and has actually got on with demolition work. If we turn down this very minimal proposal, we risk delaying that positive development.”
The committee voted 6-3 against the officer recommendation before voting 6-2, with one abstention, in favour of Green councillor Guy Poultney’s motion to defer the application so officers could work with the developers to address councillors’ concerns and arrange to visit a co-living development to see one for themselves.
The decision does not affect the original planning permission.
Main image: Olympian Homes
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