Plans to expand the Temple Quay Enterprise Zone could threaten Bristol’s vital industrial quarter – unless innovative ‘Sheds and beds’ solutions are considered, according to one of the city’s leading industrial property specialists.
Russell Crofts, head of property consultancy Knight Frank’s Industrial & Logistics division in Bristol, said: “Part of the extension of the Enterprise Zone extends along Albert Road and into St Phillips – home of Bristol’s inner city industrial zone.
“While the City Council is to be commended for encouraging regeneration in inner city areas it is important to understand the key role that the St Phillips’ industrial sector plays in the city’s economy – providing a host of semi-skilled jobs, and enabling distribution firms to deliver products across the city in an economic and timely manner.
“We risk losing that at our peril.”
Crofts believes that a new ‘Sheds and beds’ concept now being explored in similarly-threatened areas of London could have a role in Bristol, too.
“People need homes but the city needs its warehouses, depots and factories too. In London they are looking at combining the two, with industrial units – often referred to in the property sector as ‘Sheds’ – at street level and multi-level apartments built above,” he said.
“It’s a revolutionary concept to put homes literally on top of industrial units but there may come a time when Bristol has to consider doing this to meet the pressures it faces.”
