Western Terrace, Western Riverside, Bath

Part of a large Crest Nicholson regeneration project to develop 44 acres of former industrial land into a new residential quarter for the city of Bath. The Alison Brooks Buildings (Western Terrace) form the eastern part of the site, providing a mixed-use scheme, located on the banks of the River Avon. The development provides much needed new housing in an area of wholesale regeneration where a new community is being established. 

This scheme goes against the trend of ‘everywhere architecture’, instead creating an original and thoughtful contemporary housing scheme which harmonises with the surrounding Georgian townscape but also surprises the onlooker with a variety of punctuated elevations, planes and views through the site. Bath Western Riverside is a large infrastructure project for Bath and has undergone extensive public consultation over several years. Alison Brooks Architects has successfully designed a new scheme that enhances the townscape of Bath; it does this by utilising classical architectural rules in a new and exciting way, ensuring the scheme sits comfortably within the Georgian city and does not compete with it, but displays its own compelling contemporary version of classicism. The scheme compliments and therefore enhances the surrounding Georgian cityscape. Bath Preservation Trust believes that this stands out as the architectural ‘jewel in the crown’ in the development.

The judges said:

This is a stunning housing development which provides an interesting contemporary take on a proud local identity. It is good to see something new and intelligent in the housing sector, particularly within a World Heritage Site, and demonstrates to other developers that high quality housing can be achieved and you can be bold in a historic setting.