Housing • Filwood Broadway

Honouring heritage through a sustainable-imagining of a high street's future—blending affordable homes with a future-proof commercial realm.

RCKa is proud to be part of a team of architects delivering a range of Levelling Up Funded projects along Filwood Broadway in the Knowle West region in Bristol. RCKa were appointed by Bristol City Council to deliver a redevelopment of a number of existing buildings within an incredibly constrained context, offering commercial space directly onto the high-street with homes above.

The existing deteriorated shops and housing currently acts as a barrier for investment in the high street, so the fund will be used to bring forward better shops and high quality housing. The design team, supported by locally-based sub-consultants, have submitted a planning application to bring forward a total of 18 new 100% affordable homes for the local area, through a sensitive yet exciting design which celebrates the heritage and promotes a sustainable future for the residents of Filwood. The proposal has considered options based on initial estimates of carbon, cost, quality of accommodation and overall number of homes and commercial space. 

18 new homes for 58 people

100% affordable homes

Every home is double-aspect with access from an external deck

Reactivating the high street

RCKa engaged with the local community, including the Filwood Broadway Working Group, to develop a design response to the building’s existing heritage and to understand the needs of local businesses who are interested in renting space on the Broadway.

The result is a design for the front facade which follows existing rhythms, parapet heights, materiality and articulation whilst improving wayfinding through the integration of a new vertical access core to the homes directly from Filwood Broadway alongside dormer windows which accommodate homes in the top floor.

While the re-build of the facade which faces onto the Broadway reflects the heritage of the existing design and the mirrored buildings opposite, the unique rear of the buildings look over a a new communal heart for the residents with views of the Dundry slopes in the distance. Engagement results from the local community demonstrated that 89% of the respondents supported the scheme entirely. 

Sustainable principles incorporated throughout design

Two main options were considered to redevelop the site; retrofitting the existing buildings and redeveloping the site with a new-build. Although there are benefits to the retain and refurbish option including a lower overall embodied carbon impact by 5%, the assessment of whole life carbon per person is lower with the re-build option and this also provides greater opportunities to specify more eco-friendly materials.

In addition, the arguments for the new build scheme include lower operational energy usage, resulting in a lower Energy Use Intensity (EUI) (lowering energy bills), efficient repetition of apartment types and ultimately a greater number of homes.

Project list