Dove Lane

This 71 home MMC scheme across 2 plots of the Dove Lane masterplan was designed in collaboration with modular manufacturers SIG offsite for Places for People. The site comprised 1.6 hectares of vacant land in St Pauls, Bristol. We collaborated with architects Simpson Haugh and masterplan architects AWW on the wider 5 plot scheme to successfully achieve detailed planning consent.

Our brief was to design exemplar timber frame modular housing by way of a 61 apartment scheme on one plot, and 10 modular terrace houses on the other.

The proposals were to be exemplary technical deployment of off-site modular construction, and exemplary pieces of architecture in their own right. We achieved this by expressing and celebrating the inherent qualities of the modular construction. In the apartment scheme we expressed the primary supporting steel frame externally and used colour to define an elevational rhythm, which described the width of each home.

Behind the vertical steel frame strong horizontal emphasis is given between floors through inset balconies and deck access. These elements work together to set a primary elevational grid. Behind that further horizontal and vertical layers are expressed through the design of the modules. The colour is offset by an off-white, canvas-like cementitious finish to the building, which is diagonally cut to add further detail and depth to the elevation.

The design for the terraced houses learn from our Fab House modular homes delivered for Places for People and Urban Splash.

The elevational treatment flows from the apartments, and colour is used again to define the extent of each home. The detailing further defines each house as an individual building, which is part of a larger whole.

The masterplan delivered 230 new homes, 893 sq m of retail space, 1,218 sq m of office space and improved landscaping across the vacant site just off the M32 in St Pauls.

The proposals were backed by Bristol City Council’s Development Control Committee and planning consent was granted on this challenging brownfield site.