Tiger Developments and main contractor Shore Construction held a ceremony to mark the milestone at the six-storey development on January 31st 2023. The site, situated at 17a Christchurch Road within the Lansdowne Campus of Bournemouth University, was purchased by Tiger Developments in January 2020 and, once complete, will be managed by its sister company Host, the award-winning student accommodation provider.
The new building, designed by architects Stride Treglown, replaces a 1950’s light industrial unit that previously occupied the site. The finished building will house 206 future students in three, tiered blocks, in a mix of high quality studios and clusters of between four and ten beds The development will include additional facilities including a gym, cycle storage, communal lounge, outdoor terraces and outdoor courtyard.
In recent years, Central Bournemouth has experienced a well-publicised shortage of student beds, where the purpose-built sector has not met the growing student demand in the city, where more than 19,000 students now account for 10% of the town’s population.
James Hobden, Managing Director, Shore Construction commented:
“We’re delighted that our first PBSA development will help ease the shortage of student beds in Bournemouth, easing the pressure on student accommodation and private rental housing in the area.”
The finished development in the East Cliff Conservation area, will be clad in a mixture of brick and fibre cement rainscreen and incorporates a feature tower to the front elevation with fluted terracotta cladding in 3 different earthy colours. The building will also feature solar panels and air source heat pumps, helping it to a achieve a Very Good BREEAM sustainability rating.”
John Nesbitt Managing Director at Tiger Developments and Host, said:
“We are delighted to have reached this important milestone in the development of this new student accommodation for Bournemouth. This will be a fantastic place for students to live and, in line with the increasing popularity of the town and its Universities as a place to study, we are already seeing a lot of interest in the rooms.
We look forward to completing the development later this year, at which stage our highly experienced team at Host will take over the day-to-day operation and management of the accommodation and ensure students receive a warm welcome in September.”
During the project which commenced in February 2022, main contractor Shore Construction has focused on employing local contractors and workers to maximise the direct benefits to the local economy. In addition, the developers have hosted ‘Introduction to Construction’ courses which offer valuable health and safety training to new construction workers as well as providing free CSCS cards.
The 17A Christchurch Road marketing suite is located at 54 Holdenhurst Road and is now taking reservations for September 2023 occupation.