Brighton businesses were wowed by a sneak peek behind the scenes at Circus Street, at an exclusive virtual ‘hard hat tour’ hosted by Brighton Chamber on 20th April.
Set back slightly from Valley Gardens, this new cultural quarter of the city spans a whole hectare of land and includes 142 new homes, 450 student bedrooms and stunning new office and retail space. At its heart is The Dance Space, home for South East Dance, which opens out onto a central square, with small, independent restaurants and shops. The site is sustainable, energy efficient, has superb eco credentials and over 100 trees are being planted there.
As the more visible buildings have been completed largely during the Covid lockdown, people could be forgiven for thinking Circus Street has sprung out of nowhere, but this myth is quickly dispelled when you hear about the planning and care taken in its design.
Rob Sloper, Development Director at U+I Plc, the specialist regeneration developers behind Circus Street and Preston Barracks, where Plus X opened last year, explained that their focus is on making sustainable places which make a positive difference and happier, healthier communities.
U+I partnered with Brighton & Hove City Council over a decade ago to agree how to turn the old, derelict fruit and veg market, which had moved to a more accessible site at Hollingbury, into something special in this very central site in the city.
Award winning architects shedkm won a competition to design it with their emphasis on the creativity and fun of Brighton by the sea; making Circus Street unashamedly high density, as well as a vibrant and creative urban space, where people want to live, work and play.
A walkthrough of the development, narrated by Rob, showed the shiny new spaces, which include the residential and student accommodation, which is already completed and populated.
The next exciting completion will be The Office, where six floors include 30,000 sq ft of Grade A space and plenty of cycle storage, with 2,475 sq ft of ground floor retail space suitable for cafés and shops.
Rob explained that the city of Brighton & Hove has identified a real need for new, high quality office space for small and medium businesses to grow into and the Covid pandemic has created a major new demand for best-in-class office space to attract and retain the best talent. The ‘penthouse’ top floor offers panoramic views across the Royal Pavilion domes and out to sea to the Rampion Offshore Wind Farm.
This state of the art, flexible space has energy efficiency, air purity and the very best digital connectivity at its core – and it’s right in the middle of the wider new cultural quarter of Circus Street – a place not designed just for work, but an eclectic place to stay and enjoy, inside and out. All the buildings should be complete by June.
South East Dance co-leaders Rachel Gibson and Cath James presented their exciting new Dance Space, currently being decked with a stunning spiral fire escape staircase coated in copper. It includes spectacular dance performance space as well as studios for community dance and creative events. When they receive the keys this summer, they will fit out the inside, with a view to opening in summer 2022.
We can’t wait to see this stunning new part of central Brighton buzzing with creative life!
To find out more about Circus Street or contact the team regarding office and retail space, visit http://www.circusstreetbrighton.com.
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