Mi Casa Developments’ plans for a purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) scheme in Portsmouth is set to be decided on 26 February by Portsmouth City Council’s planning committee.
Archer Architects were appointed by Mi Casa Developments to formulate the designs. The proposal involves converting Venture Tower, a 1960s office building on Fratton Road, into the new scheme. It would transform the first to eighth floors into a student residence with 100 PBSA bedrooms, alongside extensions, new cladding and communal facilities.
The Venture Tower development would include a mix of fully accessible rooms, studio apartments and self-contained units. Communal areas such as study rooms, a leisure room, cinema and a gym will be spread across the first to fourth floors, with a shared terrace on the fifth floor.
The ground floor, which currently houses shops and takeaways, will remain as commercial space. Plans include a new brick slip cladding system on the lower part of the building, keeping some of the original brickwork instead of the previously proposed dark grey and black materials.
An earlier approval allowed for 97 student rooms, but the revised scheme increases this to 100 and removes the first-floor office space, which was still in use when the previous application was granted. If approved, the vacant office space will be converted into the gym.
The Venture Tower application site is approximately a 16-minute walk to Portsmouth University campus and benefits from close proximity and walking distance to Fratton train station.
“The proposed student accommodation has been carefully considered against local, regional and national Planning policy objectives, as well as being based on a carefullyconstructed understanding of both physical context and direction of Portsmouth’s evolution.
“We believe that the proposal has been adequately designed to provide a high standard of accommodation for students, and that the proposed scheme would make a positive contribution to the local area, in aesthetic terms as well as by providing quality retail and housing stock.
“As such, we believe that there should be no impediment to Portsmouth City Council in recommending this scheme for approval and look forward to the positive determination of this application.”
Design & Access Statement, Archer Architects
