RG starts Bristol towers: height, safety and delivery notes for project teams
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
RG Group has begun construction for Olympian Homes on the Haymarket development in Bristol, delivering the city’s tallest tower at 28 storeys alongside an 18-storey block, together providing 442 student bedsits and 150 co-living units over 21,061 m² GIA. The scheme, designed by Hodder & Partners, follows Gateway 2 approval from the Building Safety Regulator and includes 2,150 m² of new public realm with a park, plaza, kiosk and café linking to St James’ Park, for completion in mid-2028. RG is also preparing a 46-storey, 833-studio co-living tower at 56 Marsh Wall, Canary Wharf, with demolition starting 1 April.
Technical Brief
- Bristol City Council consent includes demolition of the existing Premier Inn and adjacent NCP multi-storey.
- Gateway 2 approval from the Building Safety Regulator fixes the high-rise design before construction starts.
- Both towers are configured with communal roof terraces, adding live loads and waterproofing interface complexity.
- Internal amenity provision includes lounges, gyms, cinema rooms and co-working areas, influencing MEP zoning and vibration control.
- Public realm works cover 2,150 m², integrating a new park, plaza, kiosk and café frontages.
Our Take
Across our 712 Infrastructure stories, relatively few schemes combine large-scale student provision with co-living in a single build, so the 442 bedsits plus 150 co-living units in Bristol signal RG Group and Olympian Homes are positioning for mixed tenure income streams rather than pure PBSA or BTR plays.
The Bristol towers’ mid-2028 completion sits alongside Olympian’s other pipeline schemes in Manchester and at 56 Marsh Wall in London, suggesting the developer is spreading delivery risk and contractor demand across multiple UK city cores rather than concentrating exposure in a single regional market.
With the Marsh Wall scheme reaching 46 storeys and the Bristol project also high-rise, RG Group is consolidating experience in tall residential buildings, which is likely to be advantageous under the Building Safety Regulator regime where a track record on complex, higher-risk structures can influence client and lender confidence.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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