News / Brabazon
Plans for 1,514-bed student flats in north Bristol given green light
Proposals for “mansion”-style student accommodation blocks near the future Bristol Arena, due to open in late 2025 or early 2026, have been granted planning permission.
YTL Developments wants to build a 1,514-bed development on the former Filton Airfield in north Bristol, complete with karaoke rooms, a gaming suite and gym as well as study and dining areas for students.
The new flats will be located on the southern boundary of the new neighbourhood known as Brabazon, which is being built over the next two decades and will include a train station, the arena and a public park.
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Speaking about the development’s aim, YTL said “a lack of dedicated student accommodation risks resulting in large numbers of HMOs that can upset the balance of some neighbourhoods” and it wanted “to be part of a sustainable solution to the challenges posed by the housing shortage elsewhere in the city”.
The development will consist of four blocks next to the new railway station – due to be completed in 2026 – image: YTL
Architects Stride Treglown said it has designed four “attractive mansion blocks” that have space for students to socialise and study with separate bedrooms arranged in clusters around communal spaces.
As well as entertainment areas inside, outside there will be landscaped courtyards, south-facing gardens and exercise areas including a basketball court.
YTL, a Malaysian firm which also owns Wessex Water, intends to finish the development in time for the 2026/7 academic year.
It said the new neighbourhood will be “connected to Bristol and beyond by every form of sustainable transport”, with MetroBus links to the UWE Bristol and the University of Bristol, bike paths and pedestrian routes and a new railway station.
A cluster of homes have already been built in an earlier phase of building work at Brabazon – photo: Betty Woolerton
Sebastian Loyn, YTL planning and development director, said: “Brabazon is designed to live up to the pioneering legacy of the former Filton Airfield and inspire the next generation. New purpose-built student accommodation is essential to our vision to create a thriving, diverse new neighbourhood for Bristol.
“When the student accommodation is completed, approximately 400 private homes will also be occupied, giving a total of almost 2,000 new residents from all generations by 2026-7. This represents a critical mass.
“The new residents will facilitate the arrival of a new breed of cafes, shops and restaurants.
“They will ensure the new public transport services – both the MetroBus and new train station – become sustainable and reliable options for the whole community.
“Alongside the existing world-leading engineering cluster, the new residents at Brabazon will accelerate the transformation of North Bristol, ensuring it remains a place of opportunity and drives local prosperity for the next 100 years.”
The three Brabazon hangars will be interlinked “but each will offer their own unique experience for visitors” – image: YTL
Originally planned to open in 2024, YTL Arena Bristol will have a capacity of 19,000 and is planned for the former Brabazon hangars, a landmark building part of Bristol’s heritage since the 1940s having homed the Bristol Brabazon and later been the birthplace of Concorde.
It is set to replace the arena that was originally proposed for Temple Island before mayor Marvin Rees scrapped the plans for the city centre location in 2018.
Meanwhile, the new North Filton station is due to open in the middle of 2026, potentially months after the arena, which prompted criticism about how gig-goers will travel to the attraction which is six miles from Bristol city centre.
Main image: YTL
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