Plans in for residential conversion of historic school

Plans have been submitted for the residential redevelopment of the historic former home of an independent girls’ school in an affluent north Bristol suburb.Property developer Kersfield intends to transform the main campus site at Redland High School into a selection of residential properties, ranging from one-bedroom apartments to four and five-bedroom family houses.The site became available after Redland High School announced plans to merge with nearby Red Maids’ School in September 2017 to become Redmaids’ High School based in Westbury-on-Trym.Following detailed pre-application consultation, documentation drawn up by AWW and GVA has been submitted to Bristol City Council seeking planning permission and listed building consent for the redevelopment of the three-acre site.The project includes the conservation, restoration and reuse of the grade II*-listed Redland Court and gate, the grade II-listed library and the locally listed hall.Redland Court is to be converted to provide four residential apartments, with a new dwelling proposed to the west of the building.The former library and school hall are to be converted into seven apartments, while the science building is to be converted and an additional 1.5 storeys added to provide 17 dwellings. The existing sports hall and east wing are to be demolished and replaced with six new terraced properties, with a further three, three-story townhouses lined up for the site of the ICT building which is also earmarked for demolition.A single storey new dwelling is proposed in the site’s north western corner, with the art building to be converted to provide further apartments.The school’s main building, Redland Court, was constructed in 1732 for the then owner of the Redland Estate, John Cossins.Cossins purchased the estate in 1730 and demolished the existing Elizabethan manor house, replacing it with a classical Palladian style mansion designed by the architect John Strachan.Redland High School acquired the property in 1885, relocating from 27 & 28 Redland Grove where it had been established three years earlier.Kersfield acquired the site earlier this year after the property was marketed by Savills.Nash Partnership has been appointed by Kersfield to provide architecture services for the heritage element of the proposed regeneration.