Student homes to stimulate city's regeneration

Architect-designed student homes are set to breathe new life into Nottingham’s Eastside.

This new development by Trent Pads Limited reinvents a disused factory site at the junction of Curzon Street and St Marks Street.  Designed by award winning Nottingham architects maber, the scheme will create accommodation for around 50 students and is fully let for 2013/14.

Christened ‘Six Degrees’, the complex will offer modern student living in a vibrant location from £99 per bedroom with all bills included.

Taj Ubhi of Trent Pads said: “We have been delighted by the interest in the development. Located just five minutes walk from Nottingham Trent University we have already let a majority of the accommodation even before the show apartment has opened.”

By replacing a long-vacant factory with residential accommodation, the development is expected to inject new life into an area dominated by empty sites and disused industrial buildings.   

Maber director Nick Keightley said: “We hope this development will act as a catalyst for further regeneration in the area and the wider Eastside.”

Although planning consents have been granted for many larger residential and student projects in the area, few have come to fruition. Instead, smaller developments such as Six Degrees could be a stimulus for investment in the Eastside regeneration area.

Set to open in September, the development will house 46 students in apartments set around a central private courtyard. The four-storey building includes seven, six-bedroom apartments and one four-bedroom apartment with all bedrooms en suite.

Steve Brown, Director of Nottingham project and cost managers WT Partnership, said: “We have been involved in a number of student accommodation projects across the Midlands, and we are delighted to be part of the team on this scheme for high-quality university accommodation in our own city.

“We have been pleased to work closely with Mr Ubhi from Trent Pads to ensure that project was delivered in line with tight time and cost constraints. Local firms including Collins Hall Green and Waterman Group have also been engaged.”

The scheme features solar thermal and photo voltaic panels to provide hot water and on-site electricity generation, whilst the site’s natural sloping topography has been used to maximise privacy and security with the ground floor units raised above street level.

Askam Construction have employed various modern methods of construction including a fast-track timber frame design solution and attractive pre-fabricated bathroom pods.