Plans to create Bristol’s first net zero integrated retirement community – which will also include a new leisure and activity hub open to the public – have been submitted to Bristol City Council.
The £85m proposal for St Christopher’s Square in Westbury Park have been drawn up following extensive community consultation. 
The scheme will create more than 100 homes for older people on a five-acre site bordering the Downs along with a café, urban village hall, wellness centre featuring a hydrotherapy pool and gym, plus activity rooms that will be open to all.
The sustainable refurbishment of the will re-use the existing heritage buildings on the site, including villas fronting Westbury Park while new two-storey cottages and four three to six-storey buildings will provide the 122 much-needed extra care homes.
The plans will open up public access to the site, which was previously occupied by a residential school for children with severe learning disabilities and shut off for many years, allowing the local community to enjoy a range of activities in the grounds, in North Lodge and in the refurbished Grade II listed Grace House.
According to its developers, St Christopher’s Square will offer the highest levels of sustainability, health and wellbeing, and has been designed to fit in with the area. 
They say the homes will help address the acute shortage of specialist accommodation for older people in Bristol while, at the same time, freeing-up homes for families in the city while reducing pressure on the NHS and social services.
The integrated retirement – or extra care model – combines lifestyle amenities, care, and community activities, enabling older people to live independently for as long as possible.
The designs feature extensive open space and a range of gardens for residents and local people to enjoy.
The grounds will include sensory gardens and community food growing spaces to boost sustainable living, biodiversity, and resident wellbeing. 
The landscaping, designed by Bristol-based architects Stride Treglown, will involve planting an additional 50 trees on site.
St Christopher’s Square will be net zero carbon in operation, as well as using low carbon construction techniques and materials. It will also be fossil fuel free, generating up to 25% of its energy needs on-site through solar panels.
Extensive consultation took place over several months to inform the designs and plans have been changed in response to local feedback, including reducing heights of some of the buildings, moving the tallest element of the proposals to the centre of the site and pulling other buildings away from the site boundary to minimise the impact of the development on existing neighbouring properties.
The team behind the proposals is made up of London-based ethical property investor FORE Partnership – a certified B Corporation reflecting that it pursues purpose alongside profit – Hampshire-based specialist integrated retirement community operator Amicala, and development manager Socius.
Formerly known as First Base, London-headquartered Socius is also developing Soapworks, a £175m regeneration of the former Gardiner Haskins department store site in Old Market, which will include 140,000 sq ft of Grade A office and 243 homes along with leisure, retail and community uses.
They believe St Christopher’s Square will be the first development in Bristol to actively align with the city’s new ‘social value policy’, incorporating the council’s TOMs (themes, outcomes and measures) Measurement Framework.
The framework has been designed to provide a reporting standard for measuring social value. The project also supports the Bristol One City Plan.
Social value initiatives so far include enabling the use of the St Christopher’s site as a Covid-19 booster vaccination clinic, offering rent-free space for local groups such as Redland Scouts, and providing temporary affordable accommodation for 90 people while the site is vacant.
FORE managing partner Basil Demeroutis said: “We are committed to delivering stand-out projects that uphold the highest standards of environmental sustainability, whilst driving significant positive social value.
“As the first net zero carbon later living development for Bristol and one of the first in the UK, St Christopher’s Square will pave the way for a new generation of ultra-sustainable, later living communities for older people across the country.”
Socius project director Lucinda Mitchell added: “Having engaged early and listened carefully to the local community, we have revised elements of our plans to respond to their feedback and are pleased to present a highly sustainable and inclusive scheme which will address the need for high quality specialist later living housing for Bristol.”
