News / Housing
Men in hi-vis gather on top of Bristol’s tallest residential tower
Marvin Rees called Bristol a “complicated city” as he stood on top of a new tower with one of the best views of its urban sprawl and the countryside beyond.
The mayor was on the roof of Castle Park View talking to some of the team responsible for the 26-storey tower, the tallest residential building in Bristol.
While making a short speech beneath the crenellations meant to hark back to the days of Bristol Castle, the mayor said that “not building homes is not an option for us. We have to build homes.”
is needed now More than ever
Castle Park View will contain 375 new homes, within a structure book-ended by a 26-storey tower and a ten-storey block – photo: Martin Booth
Rees added: “We do need to build dense because the city is not getting bigger. As we look to put more aside for nature, we have to think about how do we accommodate more people on smaller surface areas of land…
“Watching this (Castle Park View) go up stage by stage has just been fantastic and hopefully it’s a real symbol of a city – as you look around and see the cranes – that’s getting stuff done, after so many decades of not really getting stuff done.”
Looking towards Castle Park from the top of the tower – photo: Martin Booth
The view towards St Mary Redcliffe, still Bristol’s tallest building – photo: Martin Booth
Among the men in high-vis at the top of the tower on the site of the former ambulance station was Nick Thursby, director of Chapman Taylor, the architects behind the scheme.
Responding to what has been some vociferous criticism of the tower’s design and location, Thursby said that “it’s very easy to criticise and a bit harder to move forward”.
He said: “I think Bristol’s approach for quite a while has been to say, well I’m happy as it is, let’s just stick with what we’ve got.
“But Bristol has done some great things and it’s rested on its laurels. I think that other cities are surpassing Bristol. For us to be recognised as a very significant city in the UK, we need to up our game.
“I think it’s only right and sustainable that we develop on these city centre locations.”
Listen to more from Thursby in next week’s episode of the Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast.
Castle Park View seen from Old Market Street – photo: Martin Booth
Main photo: Martin Booth
Read more: Sky high ambitions for Bristol
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