Bath Spa Developments

[Andrew]

Was reading this week's edition of PLANNING and noticed a story about work starting on a major new project in the centre of Bath. It looked interesting so I searched it out on the web and found a fair bit of info. Anyway, there's a surprising ammount of development going on in Bath dispite it being a world heritage site so I thought it worth starting a thread on it, obviously none of it's high-rise though (and nor should it be).


First up, a recently completed development - Bath Spa
Project Overview:


Images of completed development (various sources, found on Google):

















www.thermaebathspa.com


The one that's just started is called SouthGate Bath:








Information, planning application documents and a video of the development available here:
http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/BathNES/en...ct/default.htm
Official Website:
www.southgatebath.com


Bath Western Riverside Project (not many pics that I can hotlink but loads of info and planning documents on the council's webpage for this development):

http://www.driversjonas.com/uk.aspx?doc=7451
http://www.bathwesternriverside.co.uk/index.php
http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/BathNES/en...de+Project.htm


Bath Quays South (no pics I can hotlink):
http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/BathNES/en...uays+South.htm


I can't find any more but if anyone else knows of any, please post them.

[steppenwolf]

top quality. I love the new spa and that finally the springs are being used. Also excellent to see that awful shopping shopping centre at the bottom of town is being replaced with this one. Very appropriate to Bath. This is one of the few places where I definitely agree with architecture being built in a traditional style. Anyone who calls that pastiche should be reminded that pastiche means 'a poor quality imitation of historic styles' - the new buildings here actually look like they are based on a sound understanding of classical proportions and scales.

[steppenwolf]

A couple of screen shots from the videa

[steppenwolf]

[Andrew]

I agree with you 100%

[Lostboy]

Can you show us the shopping centre it is replacing.

[Andrew]

I couldn't find any pics on google image search and I don't have any that I've taken.

[cardiff]

is this the area south of mc donalds and where that awfull arcade thing is?

[Andrew]

Yeah, it's replacing the awful 1960s shopping centre and multi-story car park

[Erebus555]

Here's an update on how the demolition is getting on at the SouthGate site. This is about one and a half weeks old:

[Delirium]

So glad to see it going, the southgate Shopping centre was a truly bizzare thing, one minute your in Georgian Bath and then the next moment... one of the largest anti-climaxes you'll experience in any UK town/city...

From what i heard (ages ago probably) though about the western riverside project had/is having alot of teething problems from the local media although i haven't heard anything since so i assume its nearly all clear?

Just for the love of god! i hope it looks as good as it does in the renders AND doesn't take nearly take as long as the nightmare that was The Bath Spa Project !

[delores]

Originally Posted by steppenwolf

top quality. I love the new spa and that finally the springs are being used. Also excellent to see that awful shopping shopping centre at the bottom of town is being replaced with this one. Very appropriate to Bath. This is one of the few places where I definitely agree with architecture being built in a traditional style. Anyone who calls that pastiche should be reminded that pastiche means 'a poor quality imitation of historic styles' - the new buildings here actually look like they are based on a sound understanding of classical proportions and scales.

what a fantastic thread and too right this development really does have potential to rid bath of that horrid area and replace it with really good classical buildings that bath is so well known for. It would be good though to somehow integrate water features in the sqaure pehaps?

[danz013]

anyone got any streetscape pictures of bath? I hear its beautiful down there but ive never been

[delores]

anyone got any pictures of how the southgate development is progressing?

[Madman]

Originally Posted by danz013

anyone got any streetscape pictures of bath? I hear its beautiful down there but ive never been

Your wish is my command...

Pulteney bridge and weir (even after 3 yrs getting off the uni bus I always take a peek over the river balustrade)


The obvious Royal Crescent (note the lack of US/JPN tourists who are normally everywhere around there)


Roman Baths


Circus




Bath Abbey

[Bristol Mike]

Looks good, at least the whole thing looks as though it's going to fit in with the architecture of Bath.

[Andrew]

I found a good Flickr album about Southgate Bath here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/23702100@N00/
Here's an image of the old Southgate centre before it was demolished taken from the same album:
image hosted on flickr


The Bath Western Riverside development now has a decent website but no renders to hotlink at present: http://www.bathwesternriverside.co.uk/index.php

However, there is a pdf newsletter with some nice renders: http://www.bathwesternriverside.co.uk/bwr_summer07.pdf

The design is clearly modern and doesn't attempt to copy historic Bath but I don't think the style they've chosen will look out of place given the site's distance from the main historic centre of the city.

I've also found another drawing of what Southgate will look like:
image hosted on flickr


It's hosted on Flickr and taken from here: http://www.multi-development.com:808...ent/l1home.htm which has more renders.

And a photo of the cleared site almost from the same angle:

Found on Google.

[Juan]

I have a burning, hateful, consuming disdain for Bath, but the Southgate development should be good. It truly was a depressing shitehole before.

[Delirium]

Bath or the shopping centre-cum-bus station?

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by Juan

I have a burning, hateful, consuming disdain for Bath, but the Southgate development should be good. It truly was a depressing shitehole before.

Why??? Bath is a beautiful city, the old shopping centre on this site was an ugly wart but it wasn't enough to tarnish the city as a whole.