A grand Victorian General is rehabilitated for luxury Bristol living
Case study by David Mote
Bristol General Hospital. An exclusive and partially gated community,
I
The General provides the perfect residential retreat being only minutes
bustling centre of Bristol and yet set within a peaceful location. The General is located on the south side of the
River Avon and in the heart of Redcliffe, an area with a growing reputation and ambitious regen- eration plans. When complete the new community will
offer a range of unique conversion properties as well as contemporary new built homes. There will be a total of 205 one to four-bedroom apartments and houses, and residential proper- ties will link with a collection of individual waterfront commercial units. Together they
respond online at
www.hbdonline.co.uk from the
n September 2014 developer City & Country opened ‘The General’ and unveiled the first part of the restoration of the Grade II Listed
will create a new, vibrant destination on the Bristol harbourside.
The vision
At the heart of City & Country’s vision for The General is the provision of an asset that breathes new life into the community with new shops and cafes, as well as a range of homes. However, the development will go further than this. City & Country also wanted to restore the building’s his- toric detail, and reinstate the features that originally characterised the hospital as an iconic Bristol landmark. Over the years, the functional needs of the
working hospital were not always conducive to the building’s architecture with the addition of unsightly extensions and unsympathetic ‘renova- tions’ which architecturally scarred the buildings and their setting. To address these challenges, City
& Country employed a team of specialist crafts- men, who used traditional skills and materials to nurse this architectural treasure back to life. The General is already playing a vital role in
revitalising the Redcliffe area and supporting the local community by providing an active link between the surrounding communities of Redcliffe, Bedminster, Spike Island and the Harbourside. It is also uniting the south side of the city and providing an alternative to the estab- lished residential sites in the north.
An interesting history
Bristol General Hospital began life in 1832, located in modest dwellings in Guinea Street, between the Redcliffe and Bedminster Parishes. The new facilities were the initiative of a group of local Quakers, who were appalled by the lack of health provision offered for the growing
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