PRBristol
Wayne Douglas, explains why the next generation are key to securing the future of housebuilding
Grand Designs, Modern Living
When you think of new flats, you will most likely picture a gleaming state-of-the-art block. Yet there are plenty of ultra-modern flats in some of the most distinctive historic buildings in Britain.
The Playfair Building at the formal Donaldson’s School site in Edinburgh, is one the most iconic in the Scottish capital. It was built in the 1840’s and designed in the style of an Elizabethan palace.
When the school, which provides education and therapy for dead children, left for an out-of-town location, developer City & Country converted the site into apartments and communal areas within a landscaped setting.
The properties range from studios to three-bedroom homes and mix the original windows, fireplaces and cornices with sleek new additions. Prices at the site start at £252,500.
Sundridge Park in Bromley, Kent, is a beautiful Grade I Listed John Nash-designed mansion from the 18th century. Modern flats there start at £425,000.
Another spectacular building that has been developed by City & Country has a more rural feel. Built in 1901 in the Arts and Crafts style, King Edward VII Estate, near Midhurst, West Sussex, was designed to serve as a specialist tuberculosis sanatorium.
The gardens were laid out by landscape designer Gertrude Jekyll and there are more than four miles of country paths in the grounds. Inside the main building is a swimming pool and steam room. One-bedroom flats at King Edward VII start at £249,950.
