Bath Quays North
Commercial & Residential
The complexities of Verified Views in phased developments.
Project Description
Bath Quays North is a transformative project aimed at regenerating the historic Bath Riverside area. This ambitious initiative encompasses both commercial and residential developments, linking to the adjoining Bath Quays South via the Quays Bridge, inaugurated in December 2022.
Previously utilised as Avon Street Car Park, the site has been repurposed to contribute to Bath’s urban landscape, fostering the creation of new homes, commercial spaces, and public areas.
The project previously received outline planning permission, setting the foundation for its redevelopment.
Details of Our Involvement
We were recommissioned due to our previous experience preparing the outline planning application. Moving forward with the Reserved Matters application our team provided Verified Views (AVR3) to support the Townscape and Visual Impact Assessments (TVIA).
Our primary responsibility involved preparing up to 30 viewpoints throughout the city of Bath to support the TVIA, ensuring that any proposed developments integrated into views of the site and the area’s townscape character.
We closely collaborated with NPA, leading the TVIA, and the wider design team at each stage of the project, to ensure that the proposals addressed the unique challenges presented by Bath as a UNESCO World Heritage site. This status demanded careful consideration of design, massing, and the preservation of prominent views of Bath’s skyline
Location
- Bath Riverside
Client
- Bath and North East Somerset Council (BANES)
Collaborators
Nicholas Pearson Associates
Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
Stride Treglown
Macgregor Smith
Bath Quays North Verified View from River
Bath Quays North Verified View from Town
Project Highlights
The Bath Quays project is being implemented in phases, with Bath Quays North and Bath Quays South addressed at varying stages of completion. Each phase is represented by different Verified Views (AVR1, AVR2, AVR3), adapting to the ongoing development and planning process.
One of the most significant challenges involved maintaining consistency in our Verified Views over nearly a decade as new phases progressed. This required repeated returns to the same viewpoints in varying seasons to accurately capture the City’s evolution.
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We included other development proposals planned for the local area, to illustrate to the planning decision-makers what the cumulative visual effects of change in the area could be. This provided a sound basis for assessing the potential wider impacts of the development on the city.
Conclusion
The planning application for the final phases have been submitted to Bath & North East Somerset Council. Once planning permission has been granted it will allow the project to advance to the next phases of development.
Our Verified Views have featured across numerous websites and news outlets, helping to positively promote the development.
We remain engaged in the final phases (6 & 7) of the project as part of the Reserved Matters application process.
The experiences and lessons gained from the Bath Quays North project underpins the importance of integrating Verified Views in planning applications.
