Phase two of north Bristol’s Horizon 38 scheme, one of the biggest mixed-use redevelopment projects in the country, is nearing completion.
Situated on the former East Works site, south of Gipsy Patch Lane, the area has been a hive of activity since construction began in earnest in late 2016.
Access to the site is via two new roads off Gipsy Patch Lane, now named Titan Way (closest to the railway bridge) and Taurus Road, both after historic engines produced by the Bristol Aeroplane Company.
Notable buildings currently nearing completion include a giant 115,500 sq ft warehouse (equivalent to the size of two football pitches) built on a speculative basis (i.e. without an agreed tenant), and accessed from Titan Way.
Paul Hobbs of joint letting agents GVA comments, “Unit G2 at Horizon 38 is a positive reaction by the developer to a real lack of any quality big shed supply in the Bristol and regional property market. The building is particularly targeted at ‘last mile’ supply chain companies such as Amazon who need to be very close to the customer – an expanding new market known as urban logistics.”
Adjacent to unit G2, and also fronting Gipsy Patch Lane, is a 35,000 sq ft trade centre for Selco, a national chain of trade-only builders’ merchants. This significant anchor occupier is currently advertising for staff and is expected to open in May.
Behind Selco, and accessed from Taurus Road is unit F1, a terrace of seven trade showrooms. The new high specification units, with allocated customer parking, provide businesses with a prominent frontage to promote their trade counters and showrooms.
Elsewhere on the site, Willmott Dixon has begun construction of a new 153-bedroom hotel for Village Urban Resorts. Occupying the prominent plot on the corner of the A38 and Gipsy Patch Lane, opposite Drive Vauxhall, the new Village Hotel Club will deliver a business class hotel with a business and events HUB and a state-of-the-art health and fitness club including swimming pool, bar and restaurant.
Also in the pipeline is a proposed seven-acre car supermarket fronting the A38. A planning application made on behalf of Car Shops Ltd is currently being considered by South Gloucestershire Council.
The route of the proposed Cribbs Patchway MetroBus Extension passes through the Horizon 38 development. A new bus-only link will connect Taurus Road with North Way, near Filton Blood Bank, from where buses will pass under the A38 using the existing underbridge, before heading across the redeveloped Filton Airfield site towards The Mall at Cribbs Causeway.
Images: 1 Artist’s impression of the trade counter terrace, with the Selco trade centre on the left. The view looks down Taurus Road from within the site, towards Gipsy Patch Lane. The top of the giant G2 warehouse can be seen in the background. 3 Village Hotel Club under construction near the corner of Gipsy Patch Lane and the A38 (opposite the Drive Vauxhall car dealership).
This article originally appeared in the February 2018 issue of the Bradley Stoke Journal news magazine (on pages 2 & 3). The magazine is delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH, to 9,500 homes in Bradley Stoke, Little Stoke and Stoke Lodge. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.
