Complex Development Projects,
who are involved in the Phoenix Initiative, plans to convert a former
power station off Sandy Lane into 65 loft apartments.
The scheme will also see the
construction 18 new environmentally friendly 'ecohouses' on the canal
bank and create over 2,000 sq metres of
'new technology' office space.
Electric Wharf will form a new
European style 'urban village' called Bishopsgate Green, providing
offices and homes built to the very latest in design and environmental
standards.
The proposals are centred upon
400m of canal frontage, a new landmark canal bridge and extended
towpaths to the city centre.
The scheme will convert the
majority of the Victorian industrial buildings, which date from 1894,
creating the first loft-style apartments in the city. The apartments
will provide the flexibility to work from home and some will be linked
to work spaces.
The scheme is designed to
attract new and young companies with a particular emphasis on the
creative and IT industries.
CDP has recruited
award-winning architects Bryant Priest Newman, the firm behind the
acclaimed Sherbourne Wharf and the Ludgate Lofts schemes in
Birmingham.
Ian Harrabin, managing
director of CDP, said the company hoped to win planning permission in
time to start work in the summer, with the first units available at
the end of the year.
Parts of the project are
dependent on grant aid from Europe and CDP are working with council
officers on a grant submission.
Mr Harrabin said:
"Electric Wharf will be
something new to Coventry and is a very exciting project. It will be
a major step in re-shaping and re-defining the future development of
the city.
"The buildings are
ideal for this sort of scheme and will allow us to create a
fantastic living and working environment. The best of the old power
station buildings will be retained and restored creating very
stylish and unique living and working spaces.
"People only have to
look to Birmingham and London to see the popularity and success of
similar schemes.
“We are particularly lucky
to find such fine buildings in such good condition and in such an
outstanding setting.
“The turbine hall, for
example, is a smaller and older version of the building that now
houses the Tate Modern by the Thames.
"The apartments will be
unique with exposed brick walls and massive steel beams and priced
at affordable levels.
“The majority of units will
have balconies, many with views across the city. Owners will be able
to fit them out to suit their individual requirements but they will
include loft features such as high ceilings, bed decks and exposed
roof trusses."
On the canal bank, 18 new 'ecohouses'
will be use the latest environmental technology and will be
constructed with cedar panels. Proposals include solar power,
rainwater conservation and very high insulation standards subject to
grant support.
The commercial units, some of
which will be housed in new buildings, would range in size from 31 sq
metres to 651 sq metres.
Mr Harrabin added:
"A great deal of work
has gone into making this scheme something different and highly
beneficial for the city of Coventry. Quite simply, nothing of this
sort exists in Coventry, and Electric Wharf is perfect in terms of
it style and location.”
The scheme is on site that is
closely linked with the development of the city in modern times:
- Work
started on the power station in August 1894 and the first electric
power was provided to Coventry city centre in November 1895
- Construction
work took around a year to complete at a cost of £6,850
- Water
used to feed the boilers was taken from the canal using a pump and
then returned.
- Coal
was brought by barge and the site included a wharf
- The
initial area served with power was tiny stretching only from
Burges to Hertford St and across to Jordan Well
- There
will be 65 apartments in the new scheme
- 18
new houses are designed as eco-friendly, depending on grant
funding
- The
footbridge across the canal and canal towpaths will open up canal
access to a wide community.
- Some
aspects of the projects - the footbridge and the creation of 18
eco houses - are subject to an ERDF grant application.
- CDP
completed the purchase of the site from PowerGen in October 2000
- CDP
is based in London, but two of its directors hail from Coventry
- It
is the company behind Priory Place, a £13 million scheme, which
forms a major part of the Phoenix Initiative, containing 85
designer apartments and eight bars and restaurants.
- The
company recently bought the historic ribbon factory off Trinity
Street to convert for residential and commercial use
