An exciting new nursery in Southville, Bristol, the project sees the conversion of the disused Holy Cross Church on Dean Lane to create a 162 place nursery and pre-school.
The works include:
- The restoration of the existing, derelict building.
- The demolition of a 1960’s extension and the construction of a new kitchen wing.
- New external play areas,
- Bike and buggy spaces,
- A net increase in tree planting.
- New on site, drop-off and pick-up areas.
The proposed site layout has been developed to make the most of existing building features and to use the available space around the main church building efficiently.
The existing building entrance and access from Dean Lane has been retained. This will form the main pedestrian and cyclist entrance to the site with covered cycle parking located in this area for staff and visitors.
The existing railings have been adapted and re-used to form two vehicle access points onto Dean Lane to introduce a one way system within the new staff and visitor car park. New trees are proposed along the Dean Lane boundary. This looks to extend the tree line from Dame Emily Park to the adjacent primary school.
Further proposed trees to the rear of the site offer some privacy and screening to the proposed play area. Additional tree lines in the car park and along the play area fence line offer additional screening from Dean Lane.
The building’s mechanical and electrical plant enclosure is located to the rear of the church where it is fully screened from Dean Lane. This area has historically formed a back of house function before the 1960’s works when the previous link building was located adjacent to this area. The proposed extension joins the main building to the exact width of existing structures which are to be demolished. This ensures no further 1920’s brickwork is concealed by the proposal.
