Campbell House, Bristol

Project:	Campbell House, Bristol
Client:	Unite Students
Architect:	DMWR Architects
Main Contractor:	RG Group
Products:	AlivaBrick and AlivaClassic

The brief

To provide an EWI and clay brick slip signature facade for this stylish new 430 bed student accommodation complex located in the heart of Bristol on the site of a former Georgian hospital.

An inverted P shape design called for acute and obtuse angled slips in Aliva’s A1 accredited clay brick system on the former Bristol Royal Infirmary site.

Campbell House incorporates a gym, cinema room, karaoke room, study spaces and outdoor social spaces.

What we did

The facade needed to complement the backdrop of the local Bristol architecture. Aliva UK supplied over 3,000m2 of EWI with buff and light grey multi shaded clay slips and 520m2 of white and grey textured render.

The clay brick slips are A1 rated, Aliva’s fully non-combustible system has been developed to ensure the highest fire classification has been achieved based on testing to standard EN 13501-1:2019.

The white render was used in the inner courtyard to create a feeling of light and space in the inverted P design.

Campbell House achieves BREEAM Excellent, which is a Unite Students standard but the real step change here is moving away from gas useage. As part of Unite’s commitment to sustainability, its latest development in Bristol offers a host of sustainable features including a green roof, extensive solar panelling and air source heat pumps with the ability to link into the district heating network once delivered.

Sympathetic to the history of the site, Campbell House also includes reclaimed stone from the hospital’s Hill Ward on the ground elevation.

What makes this special

Campbell House is made up of six and seven storeys across a number of connecting blocks.

Due to the inverted P shaped design, along with traditional sized brick slips, Aliva UK deployed almost 700 non 90 degree angle corner slips – bringing acute and obtuse buff and grey clay brick slips to the project.

This was also a city centre island site, which meant space was tight. The sequence of the build had to be managed very meticulously, to ensure the project ran smoothly.

Campbell House marks the second time Aliva UK has worked with RG Group, following award winning project Hayloft Point, a Unite Students development in Central London featuring EWI and clay brick slips in red, brown and cream.

What the architect said

Paolo Di Gennaro, Director of DMWR Architects: “Campbell House sees a careful fusion of the old and new, with elements of the former hospital building carefully preserved and sitting alongside the sensitively designed new build blocks, achieved using the Aliva EWI and the clay brick signature facade. With sustainability at the forefront of the design, the green roof and photovoltaic solar panelling have been incorporated along with Air Source Heat Pumps to ensure BREEAM Excellent is achieved, reducing the energy demands of the building and its impact on the environment.”