Vita plots 18-storey Nottingham PBSA

The student living specialist’s plans to overhaul the listed former police and fire stations in the city centre and add a new-build block are expected to be approved next week.

Nottingham City Council’s planning committee will consider the application at its meeting on 17 December. Approval is recommended for the scheme which comprises 610 bedspaces in total.

Vita Student, the applicant, is working with a professional team featuring architect Fuse, planner Turley, landscape architect Layer Studio, BWB, Ridge, DFC, Gleeds, Our Studio, RBA Acoustics, York Archaeology, GIA and FPCR.

The proposal from Vita, part of the cross-residential Select group, calls for the conversion and single storey rooftop extension at the grade two-listed former police and fire stations building, with a new 18 storey building added.

Also part of the scheme are facilities to support the PBSA, along with a new ground floor public food hall, landscaping, access, cycle parking, and drainage.

In line for demolition are the Central Block at the site, single storey lean-tos adjoining the 1930s station building, part of the rear wing of the 1880s fire station house, and part of the rear east wing of the Guildhall.

The site is in the north of the city centre, 400m north of Old Market Square. It occupies a block bounded by Shakespeare Street to the north, North Church Street to the east, Burton Street to the south, and South Sherwood Street to the west.

As set out in the planning officer report, the block contains a number of notable buildings, including the grade two-listed Guildhall, the E.ON building fronting Burton Street, the police HQ and central fire station building fronting Shakespeare Street, and the 1880s ‘Fire Station House’ fronting South Sherwood Street.

Vita’s proposed development site also includes associated car parking and turning areas formerly serving the fire station. The site has remained vacant since 2016 and the condition of the buildings has since deteriorated.

Vita intends for the redeveloped stations to accommodate 246 studio apartments for students, with a further 364 bedspaces in the newbuild tower, mostly in cluster flats.

The tower would have a two-storey podium, connecting to the restored 1880s fire station house, which would provide amenity space and an entrance point for the food hall, in the podium.

A food hall will be created in the podium block of the new-build tower. Credit: planning documents

Out of 247 neighbours consulted, concerns have been raised by a long-standing local nightclub, cognisant of issues that ha arisen in places where new residential arrivals have objected to noise. According to the Agent of Change principle set out in NPPF guidelines, the onus is on the developer to mitigate against noise affecting residents.

In terms of the heritage lobby, Nottingham Civic Society said that it strongly supports the plans to redevelop and restore the listed buildings on site, but has some concerns over the visual dominance of an 18-storey building.

As recorded by officers, “The society considers the refurbishment scheme impressive and recognises the tower as necessary enabling development but seeks reassurance from the City Council that the restoration and appropriate reuse of the Victorian Guildhall will also be secured.”

Historic England also said it believes he tower to be too tall, although it too broadly welcomes the project.

Another consultee, the University of Nottingham, said it cannot support the overall proposal – although it praised aspects of the tower part – due to the studio flats in the refurbished area, an over-supply concern the university has also raised on other schemes.

Summing up in this area, officers noted that in recent years, the vacancy rates recorded in studios, historically higher, have become closer to those recorded for cluster-dwellers. Praise was also given to the studio/cluster hybrid part of the tower, and the difficulty of creating clusters in the reworked stations complex noted.

The plans can be viewed on NCC’s planning portal, reference 25/01609/PFUL3.