Multi-million pound next phase of Gloucester Docks phase unveiled
When developers talk about ‘challenges’, what they are really saying is that issues you and I might consider unsurmountable are do-able. Adrian Goodall's calm summary of the task facing him on phase two of his Gloucester Quays project probably comes from his years of experience with projects whose ‘challenges’ would leave most shaking in their steel toe cap boots. Phase one of the renaissance of the formerly derelict, dilapidated and downright decrepit warehouses into the residential, retail and recreational quarter around Provender Mill bookending the south of Gloucester Quays is the work of Rokeby Merchant. The firm was forged from Mr Goodall’s own business, Gloucester-based Rokeby Developments, and Michael Chicken’s London-headquartered Merchant Place Developments. And that business is now rolling on its second leg of the journey – the £20 million plans to breathe new life into the remaining waterside red-brick Victorian warehouses and grain storage buildings on the Bakers Quay site. The designs are expected any day now. These being Downing’s, the Malthouse and Transit Sheds – towering red-bricks dating from 1876. Phase one – 47 flats (all sold) and then some – centred around Provender warehouse and included the 104 bed Premier Inn hotel, Beefeater restaurant, Costa Coffee and 30,000 sq ft of restaurant accommodation.
Fellow developers will sympathise - planning for phase two was already won, but a change in the balance between retail and residential on the scheme – originally 42 apartments with 18,000 square feet of café and restaurant space - meant a re-think was needed. The result - less retail, more dwelling space. Good news for those seeking a new home and investors seeking new opportunity in a development area which has transformed the city’s image and created a destination. Plans now include 70 apartments, and there is talk of balconies, amazing rooftop views from the penthouses, lots of modern glass-meets heritage, and even extra parking. It is hard to demonstrate just how difficult the project will be. Take Downing’s warehouse – opened as a malthouse for George &William E Downing from Smethwick in 1876, it might look strong enough to withstand another 140-plus years plus, but inside it is propped up with the debris of collapsed giant timber beams, brickwork, steel pillars, old flooring and rubble. Plans are to remove this, salvage as much re-usable materials as possible, and incorporate it into the apartments which will reflect the strapline that has become associated with the Gloucestershire-based business – ‘affordable luxury’. Particularly taxing will be demolition works to the post- war concrete silo adjacent to the Victorian warehouse. But it is this element which gives the opportunity to marry the period red-brick and steel with something
60 | February 2020 | www. punchline-gloucester .com
Made with FlippingBook Publishing Software