Developers hope to demolish Bristol Debenhams to build flats

The former Debenhams building has been empty for two years

A developer has unveiled plans to demolish the Debenhams building in Bristol city centre and replace it with blocks of flats.

The plans comprise of 514 apartments, of which 20% would be designated affordable, in up to 28 storeys.

The companies behind the project said it would open up the space and allow better pedestrian access to Broadmead.

But critics said plans for high rises on various sites in the city centre are ruining the character of Bristol.

The bid to transform the site is being led by real estate companies AEW UK and Savills working with architects AWW and Churchman Thornhill Finch.

The building has been vacant for the past two years since Debenhams went bust.

It was part of the redevelopment of Bristol following extensive bombing during World War Two, and first opened its doors in 1957.

The former Debenhams building has been empty for two years

The developers said they chose the name Barr's Street for the project in honour of an ancient thoroughfare lost in the rebuilding process.

Instead of one building, the blocks of flats of between nine and 12 storeys would sit either side of the 18m wide street.

The planned 28 storey building would be a "northern gateway" into Broadmead, the developers said.

They said the project would also create a number of commercial spaces at ground level resulting in a "tree-lined pedestrian shopping street connecting Broadmead to the Bear Pit".

Extensive landscaping and roof top gardens would boost biodiversity in the area, they said, and a two-story community building could be used for a new health centre or library.

'We need more homes'

One business owner in Broadmead told BBC West the project could bring a boost due to increased pedestrian footfall, while others were keen for something to be done with the empty site.

"There's a massive housing crisis at the moment so (the development) would be good as long as it is affordable," one shopper said.

Another added: "We need more homes. People need to be able to live in the city and the building has been sat there for years doing nothing - it's not nice to walk past it and just see it as a wreck."

But the Barr's Street development is not the only new high rise planned for the area.

Whitbread, the company behind hotel chain Premier Inn, wants to demolish its hotel on the Bearpit to build two residential towers - one of 28 storeys and another of 18 storeys.

'Surrounded by high rises'

Matthew Montagu-Pollock, of the Bristol Campaign Against Tower Blocks, said the plans will do little to alleviate the housing crisis.

"High rises are much more expensive to build than houses, so we are not going to get any affordable (flats) in any of these buildings," he said.

"There have been almost no affordable units in any of the high rises that have been built so far."

Mr Montagu-Pollock said the view of the green hills surrounding the city was steadily being eroded.

"I don't think people understand what it is going to be like to be completely surrounded in the city centre by high rises," he said.

There will be a public consultation on the plans on Monday 19 June between 12:00 and 16:00 BST outside the Debenhams store, and an online presentation between 18:00 and 19:30 on the same day.