HOT on the heels of revealing plans for new design-led suburban homes, social impact developers Capital&Centric have submitted an application for Neighbourhood Bolton, their new concept community.

The application, now lodged with Bolton Council, includes 160 sustainable homes split across four nearby brownfield plots on the town’s Bradshawgate and Breightmet Street.

The community will boast 1-4 bed homes with striking bold designs and high energy performance. They’ll be set alongside safe streets fit for kids to play out, community amenity spaces where residents can get together, shared green areas and new workspaces for creative small and start-up businesses. Capital&Centric’s new Neighbourhood™ concept is squarely aimed at cultivating a true community feel on underused brownfield sites, with plans to roll out across the UK to tackle housing shortages.

Neighbourhood: Boltonwill kickstart reinvigoration of the key interchange area surrounding Bolton’s bus and train stations. It’ll be made up of Neighbourhood Trinity Gateway – the site on Bradshawgate – and Neighbourhood Trinity Village – a cluster of sites around Breightmet Street.

New images show the design-led approach adopted, which aim to echo the industrial palette of the surrounding area, but with a bold contemporary slant. Ribbed steel is used sparingly throughout the community alongside more traditional brick, offering a glimpse of colour from the main streets.

Richard Spackman, Development Director at Capital&Centric, said: “It was just weeks ago we announced these plans and we’re already on with a planning application. We wanted to get the Neighbourhood concept spot on, with bold, contemporary homes, community amenities and workspaces set to totally change the feel of the area around Bolton’s train and bus stations. For us, this is all about taking the design-led approach you see in some of the exemplary city centre developments and bringing it to life in the suburbs.

“A big part of Neighbourhood Bolton is to bring something totally different to what’s already on offer locally. We’ve worked at real pace to bring forward plans that will ultimately help meet Bolton’s growing housing need.

“There’s places up and down the country that have these challenging brownfield sites in prime, town centre locations, crying out for a creative approach to regeneration. We’re rising to that challenge here and delivering a neighbourhood with a sense of community, excellent sustainability credentials and a distinct design edge.

The Leader of Bolton Council, Cllr Nick Peel, said: “The submission of this planning application is an exciting step forward for Neighbourhood Bolton, a key project in the regeneration of Bolton Town centre. Pending approval, this scheme will provide a mix of sustainable urban homes and create a vibrant new neighbourhood in the heart of Bolton.

“Capital&Centric are leading developers with an outstanding reputation. They are already working to rejuvenate Farnworth and their involvement in this new project shows the confidence that they, and the industry as a whole, has in Bolton’s regeneration plans.”

With success in Manchester with communities including Kampus and Crusader, Capital&Centric are well-known for their historic restorations and creative new builds. Neighbourhood™ sees them venture into the suburbs, with their first fully new build project.

Elsewhere, they’re currently delivering creative, diverse neighbourhoods at Stockport’s historic Weir Mill, The Goods Yard  in Stoke-on-Trent and Eyewitness Works in Sheffield.  The latter currently features in Channel 4’s ‘The Big Interiors Battle’ each Friday from 8pm, where budding designers compete to win an apartment in the former cutlery works.