Into The New Century

This is the controversial Century Court. It was built at the start of 2000 and was completed in 2001. It replaced some old office buildings and was hailed as an impressive brownfield redevelopment, but it wasn't without its critics due to the design. At the time it was quite a departure from the usual style of buildings being put up and the Borough Council actively sort out a contemporary design. Century Court was designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley architects and cost around £12 million. The complex has 87 apartments, 9 townhouses, inner courtyard gardens created by a Chelsea award winning designer, a gym and underground car parking. And just to stop any unwanted visitors it has gated access.

This view is from Bath Road but the view from the courtyard is much more interesting. At each end are two drum shaped buildings with apartments within, but I couldn't show them to you due to the gates! The main feature of the homes in the photo is the view from the balconies. They overlook one of Cheltenham's most famous institutions, and this makes these homes some of the towns most expensive (£500,000 for 2 bedrooms!)

Come back tomorrow to see what they see...

New Build

Cheltenham, like many other towns and cities across the country, has seen an influx of modern buildings, some good some bad. This row of new build town houses is just off of Imperial Gardens and is an example of the sort of developments we are seeing. The Council is following government policy to build on unused sites (brownfield) in town centres before pursuing developments out of town (greenfield). Lots of disused spaces in Cheltenham have had new life breathed into them and the majority of new builds are quite sympathetic to their surroundings. The houses above sit easily with neighbouring Regency buildings and I think they add to the character of Cheltenham. Of course there are some new builds that are seen local as an eyesore, but you've got to take the rough with the smooth!

In the background you can see the Eagle Tower, home of the Golden Eagle from yesterday.