Alder King - Mixed-Use Development - Bristol, Paintworks site
Date: 25 Jul 2008
Construction of a landmark building at the Paintworks site in Bristol is almost complete.
It has been built on phase two of the site by developers Verve Properties. The new building will be split into two parts, named the Deco Building and 275 Bath Road. It has been designed as the landmark building for the site and will be visible from Bath Road, off which Paintworks is located.
In total the Deco Building and 275 Bath Road will provide over 13,839 sq ft of office space, with seven residential units above. Property consultants Alder King remain the sole letting agents on Paintworks and are already showing potential occupiers around the office units, which vary in size from 780 sq ft to 3,300 sq ft.
The Deco Building used to be the old 1920s administration offices of the paint factory on the site and Verve Properties have redeveloped the property to highlight this heritage. 275 Bath Road is modelled on the Delaware Pavilion and its oval shape is already prominent from Bath Road.
Thomas Dugay, surveyor at Alder King said: "Occupiers have been amazed at the finish of the show unit and also by the level of sustainable features that Verve has incorporated into the development. They have recycled multiple materials found on the Paintworks site and reused them in the development, for example for the light fittings and show unit art and furniture.
"They have even used a recycled source for the floor of the units, relaying a gym floor that was previously in a school."
The Deco Building and 275 Bath Road are due to be completed in August, but Alder King is already in talks with occupiers looking to prelet premises in Bristol's creative quarter.
The redevelopment of Paintworks began in 2004 and the impact that the development has had on the area is clear. When Verve Properties bought the Paintworks site in 2003, many of the buildings were derelict and had not been used for years and only 15 people were employed on the 12 acre site. Now over 600 people work on Paintworks and Verve believe that this figure will increase to 2,000 when the development is finished.
Ashley Nicholson at Verve Properties commented: "We wanted to redevelop Paintworks into a home for Bristol's creative community and build somewhere where they could live, work and socialise.
"There is extensive creative talent in Bristol, but other than the Arnolfini, the Watershed and Spike Island, there is nowhere for them to work. This is the only city to have no creative district and yet it has one of the largest creative communities outside London. We therefore developed the Paintworks site to fill this hole and the level of interest that we continue to receive in the site showed us how large this hole actually was."
"Because of the site's perception we have continued to attract occupiers from the creative industries, but this is changing and we are now receiving interest in the units from occupiers in many different sectors."
Verve also has exciting plans for the future. Ashley said: "We've just got consent for a US diner on the site, which will allow us to provide cheap convenient food on the site and so we are now searching for an authentic 1955 diner in Ohio. We've also applied for planning permission to build a new convenience store at the current entrance to the site."
Thomas Dugay, surveyor at Alder King outside the Deco Building
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