Beautiful Victorian fireplaces, gothic wooden doors and oak sliding sash windows are some of the original features that will be retained as part of the new creative hub in Boscombe.
New affordable housing is also being developed at the site, called Gladstone Mews, and during the construction, as well as retaining many of the Victorian features in the listed parts of the old school building, materials from the rest of the site have been reused for the hub and housing scheme.
More than 11,000 bricks have been used to construct the new gable wall of the creative hub as well as a wall for the new community orchard and boundary wall for the housing scheme. Block paving has also been salvaged and will be used to form part of the footpath to the hub.
Councillor Jane Kelly, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Partnerships, said: “The former school building, which is listed and will be used for the new creative hub, dates back to 1878. I’m really pleased to see that we are keeping many of the wonderful original Victorian gothic features of the building and helping to retain the heritage of the building for people to enjoy for years to come.
“We’ve also, where possible, used as much of the materials from the old buildings on site for the community orchard, boundary wall and footpaths and so it is good to see that the materials have gone back in to regenerating the site.”
The housing scheme in Gladstone Road consists of eleven family homes with gardens, including an accessible bungalow as well as a communal orchard and allotments for the residents of the development to use to grow fruit and vegetables.
The listed part of the former school building on the site have been retained and is currently being restored providing a creative hub to help small local businesses in the creative sector as well as providing space for meetings and training, and community activities.
The creative hub is due to be complete by May 2014 and open to creative businesses by June 2014. The housing will be complete in summer 2014. Once complete, the ownership of the site will then transfer to Bournemouth 2026 Trust in their capacity as a Community Land Trust.
Sales information for potential buyers will be available shortly, residents who would like to find out more or register an interest can email: [email protected]
