We're in the final stages of construction on the innovative Gap House concept, turning a council-owned disused garage plot in Bristol into affordable housing.
The first factory-made panels, which will be used to create the external walls of the homes, have been lifted onto site and are now being installed in stages due to the constrained nature of the site. The homes are being built using modern methods of construction (MMC), with the high-performance structural insulated panels (SIPs) manufactured off site, before being brought to Bristol by lorry before being carefully lifted into position by crane.
The installation of the internal walls, floors, and roofs is also underway. Groundworks had already taken place in preparation for this phase of work.
Matt Cooper, Bristol Director
Each home will be highly insulated with low energy lighting to support minimal heating requirements and will use renewable energy generated by solar PV panels and air source heat pumps, resulting in low environmental impact and running costs.
The homes will include an open-plan kitchen-living area and a bathroom on the ground floor, with a bedroom and storage on the first floor. Large windows will allow for maximum natural light. The entrance to each property has been designed to promote a ‘front porch culture’ with green space and outdoor seating in front of each home to encourage social interaction and community cohesion.
Councillor Barry Parsons, Chair of the Homes and Housing Delivery Committee, Bristol City Council
The Gap House concept was refined as part of an Innovate UK programme supported by the Housing Festival, designed to explore the potential for MMC housing. This year, it featured in the Housing Festival’s Social Rent Housing: The MMC Playbook, a guide for local authorities, which highlighted Gap House as “an innovative approach to successfully unlocking land and overcoming challenges for successful creation of new housing”.
Designed by multidisciplinary design practice BDP and built by Beard and SIP (structural insulated panel) specialist Etopia, the nine one-bedroom, two-storey sustainable homes on Bell Close, Horfield, have been commissioned by Bristol City Council’s Housing Development team and funded by the local authority’s Housing and Landlord service.
BDP originally showcased its Gap House concept design at the Housing Festival Expo in 2018, as a proposed way of helping to meet the city’s acute need for housing and revitalising neighbourhoods.
Image credit: BDP
