A block of “poor quality” student accommodation in Bath could get a major renovation and extension to bring it up to “modern standards” and increase the living space for students.
Pulteney Court in Bath | Image © Google Street View / Google
There are 137 bedrooms at Pulteney Court, a self-catered University of Bath student accommodation block for postgraduates and exchange students.
From the road, the block has the appearance of a modern faux-Georgian terrace, but a planning statement submitted with plans to revamp the building said: “The general condition of the accommodation is reasonable but, inside, the provision is dated with cramped kitchens and a lack of communal facilities.”
The plans, which have been submitted to Bath & North East Somerset Council for planning permission, would see a new three-storey extension built, but the number of students the accommodation houses would actually go down to 128, as bedrooms would be removed to make space for larger combined kitchen-living rooms.
The remaining bedrooms would all have en-suite bathrooms.
The proposed changes would help the building “meet modern standards”, the planning statement said.
It added: “The quality of the accommodation is poor quality and falls significantly below the specification found in modern PBSA [purpose-built student accommodation] developments.”
The block was built in 2000, and behind its Georgian terrace-style front wing along Pulteney Road, there is a modern rear wing facing the Kennet and Avon canal, which runs behind the building.
The new extension would be built on a staff car park next to the rear wing.
It would be mainly clad in black timber, to fit in with the trees around the site but the application said it would be hidden from the road because it would be smaller than the front section of the building.
Although right next to the canal path, the application said it would also be concealed from people on the path by the existing stone wall and the fact that the site is so much lower down than the canal path.
The statement added that increasing the living spaces without building the new extension would mean the building would lose the space for 25 bedrooms.
However, incorporating a 21-bedroom extension into the design, the plans could instead be arranged to lose only nine bedrooms.
You can view and comment on the plans here.
John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter
