Making room in the city

Finding space for development in established urban areas requires a willingness to work with difficult sites. This week’s news shows developers finding ways to bring constrained land into use and adapt existing buildings, creating opportunities where a more straightforward approach might overlook them.

At Camden Point, the former British Transport Police headquarters offers a substantial structure to adapt. Retaining most of its frame gives the proposed student development a starting point, while opening the canal frontage would change how the site relates to its surroundings. The conversion could bring a previously restricted piece of the neighbourhood into everyday use.

That wider contribution deserves attention. Student accommodation can be relatively self-contained, but the Camden Point proposals include commercial and community space at street level. Access to the waterfront would give people who do not live in the building a reason to use the site. Its relationship with Camden matters alongside the accommodation itself.

Britannia Street presents a more technical challenge. Building above a live railway tunnel requires an engineering response that shapes the whole development. The resulting design makes room for student homes on a surface car park where the constraints might otherwise limit what could be delivered.

These schemes illustrate the value of looking closely at land and buildings already within the city. Their potential is rarely straightforward. Bringing it forward requires investment in design before there is any certainty of a completed project. Planning permission at Britannia Street marks progress through that process; Camden Point’s submitted proposals are at an earlier stage.

At Marshgate Lane in Stratford, contractor appointment moves the student scheme into delivery. Here, artists’ workspace and new pedestrian and cycle access form part of the development.

Across the three projects, PBSA is providing a use around which improvements to urban sites can be organised. This week’s news illustrates how student housing can contribute to the surrounding neighbourhood as well as accommodate its residents.

Glasgow’s new heritage grant addresses a related problem from the public sector side. A vacant listed building can have an apparent purpose and still remain empty because the cost of preparing it for occupation is too high. The council’s funding recognises that gap.

The eligible works are revealing. Building services and fire safety measures are essential to occupation, yet they offer little of the visibility of a restored façade. Helping to fund them could make the difference between a property with potential and premises a business can actually use. Heritage preservation has a more secure future when owners can find a workable use for the space.

Making urban buildings usable also means meeting the standards expected of them. For student accommodation schemes subject to the higher-risk building requirements under the Building Safety Act, demonstrating compliance is a critical part of delivery. BESA’s latest survey suggests that awareness is becoming more established among contractors, with many adapting their processes accordingly.

The difficulty is moving from understanding the requirements to providing reliable evidence that they have been met. Respondents identified challenges in demonstrating competence, including across the businesses they appoint. A qualification is part of that picture, but assurance must also address whether someone can carry out the particular work.

That demands effort from clients as well. Contractors cannot change procurement expectations on their own, and the survey’s finding that most respondents had seen no significant change in client behaviour is concerning. Firms investing in compliance need that work to be recognised in the conditions under which projects are commissioned.

This week’s stories show an industry responding positively to difficult sites and finding new purposes for existing buildings. That ingenuity deserves support. Meeting building safety requirements requires the same commitment across the construction supply chain, including clients whose procurement decisions must give firms the conditions to do the work properly.

One to Watch: Buildings that can change use

Britannia Street’s layouts allow for potential conversion from student accommodation to other compact living uses. That is worth following beyond this individual scheme. Buildings can outlast the demand that first justified their construction, and decisions made during design can influence how readily they find another purpose. If adaptability becomes a more regular consideration in PBSA, it could broaden the options available to owners over the longer term.

Risk Radar: Procurement needs to catch up

BESA’s survey points to a gap between contractors changing their practices and clients adjusting what they expect. One respondent described being commercially penalised for resisting pressure and doing the work properly. If compliance carries a commercial disadvantage, the industry has a problem that training alone cannot resolve.

Clients need to allow for the work involved in demonstrating competence and meeting safety requirements. Procurement that continues to prioritise expectations incompatible with those obligations risks frustrating the progress engaged firms are making. The responsibility for safer buildings must be reflected in how work is bought.