The last month has been both interesting and busy.

Tenders were returned for the proposed Affordable Housing near Oxford for OCLT, and interviews held with two of the bidders.

Our client AEOB has gone ahead with their purchase of a site in St George to convert and extend as 6 custom build affordable flats. It has been interesting to say the least –the existing planning approval was due to expire just three days after the purchase, so we have been frantically working to submit for approval of conditions so work could commence on site. The submission was made in good time, but the Planners don’t seem to be able to approve before the end of December.

Work started nonetheless, and this looks to be a great community project –more on the BBC at www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-30141713

Sadly we were unsuccessful in our joint interview with Ambition Lawrence Weston to design a new Community Hub. We were in with a top team, who did an amazing presentation, the highlight of which was Sam’s poem read to the community panel “Lawrence Weston, will you marry me?”

Meanwhile we still await approval of the Renewable Energy Demonstration Centre for Solarsense. The planners say it is not contentious and yet the application has been going nineteen weeks and still running! Come on North Somerset Council –get your act together –jobs are at stake here.

We were successful in getting shortlisted for Bristol Council Houses Framework as a consortium bid with Barefoot Architecture and Tangentstudio. We had a good conversation at interview with the council about providing housing on some of the City’s unloved garage sites –we await the outcome.

The renovation of the studio workspace for our photographer client in Backfields Lane nears completion (see picture), and we have also done a very quick sketch scheme for a local property company who are doing a larger conversion on Stokes Croft to provide 400 sq m of studios and workshops.