Construction and development company Real (www.real-group.co.uk) begins work on the

Hollis Building in Bath for developer Alumno Group to create 120 rooms of Purpose-Built Student A

ccommodation (PBSA) across four storeys, with bespoke commercial space on the ground floor.

Designed by leading Bristol practice AWW Architects, the building features five, seven and ten bed cluster flats and studios. There will be a laundry room on the first floor and three accessible studio flats as well as ample communal spaces for the students to socialize in, including a common room on the first floor facing the river and an external roof terrace on the fourth floor.

The site on Lower Bristol Road lies within Bath Conservation Area, a World Heritage site, a Housing Development Boundary, and an Enterprise Area.  The Hollis Building will feature photovoltaics (PV) on the roof with electric heating plus a living wall on the north elevation, green roofs, bird and bat boxes and new planting on Lower Bristol Road.  Additionally, the site is just a half hour walk, ten minutes by bus or a ten-minute cycle to the centre of the city as well as a five-minute walk to Bath Spa University campus.  This convenient location therefore encourages a sustainable, car-free lifestyle and provides ease for students.
 
These measures align with the Real’s sustainability commitments in terms of carbon reduction and biodiversity, as part of its Sustainability Framework. One of the Framework’s other central themes is community resilience and Real will look to support the local economy in terms of employment and apprenticeship opportunities.
 
“The Hollis Building is an exciting project, in a prime location and with an excellent design, and we are delighted to have started the project and to be working with the Alumno team,” says Alan Hope, Regional Director, Real.  “Our project team has a proven track record of success having delivered a student accommodation project just 15 minutes from the Hollis Building, and I look forward to watching them take on the challenge of this new and exciting scheme.”
 
“We are delighted to be commencing work with Real on this exciting project in Bath, a city that we have had long held ambitions to work in,” adds David Campbell, Founder and Managing Director, Alumno.  “We are sure that by working in close partnership with Real, the Hollis building will offer students studying in Bath a first-class housing option at a time of great demand and need.”

Due for completion in August 2024, the Hollis Building is Real’s second student accommodation project in Bath, having completed work on the nearby 144 bed North Parade accommodation building in September 2022.