Plans to build 139 apartments on the site of the former planning offices at South Hill, St Helier have been approved by Jersey’s Assistant Environment Minister, Mike Jackson, saying; “South Hill, will make much better use of a dis-used site.”

The scheme, for the Jersey Development Company, will provide one, two and three bedroom apartments, replacing the former planning offices and surface car-park and nestling within the landscape of the former quarry at South Hill.

Inspired by the geological forms, and evoking the nearby Mount Bingham’s granite rock face through the building’s mass, tonality and texture the development has generous planted balconies to the apartments.  These balconies, green roofs and gardens maximise residents’ connection to nature, and soften the former quarry landscape.

Andy Theobald Partner, FCBStudios said “Our proposals for South Hill embrace the unique opportunity to design within a landscape setting to create housing and a community with a distinct sense of place. The buildings are layered across the site - east to west - to maximise views out over the harbours and bay, whilst giving prominence to the landform and maintaining views through the site to Fort Regent and Mount Bingham.

The facades of the buildings create further layers, through a series of balcony frontages which are sculpted and planted to evoke the character of the naturalised granite rockfaces. The balconies offer private external space for residents, whilst also offering solar shading to the apartments that are designed to Passivhaus principles to support the Island’s low energy targets.”

The project has an exemplar environmental agenda; designed to Passivhaus principles, the proposals target low carbon in-use and seek to create a new housing benchmark for Jersey. The design balances the need for solar gain and solar shading for the west and south facing apartments through tested fenestration ratios to achieve optimum thermal performance, whilst also using the One Planet Living framework to assess proposals under broader environmental themes.

The existing Listed Building on the site will be revealed and redeveloped as a flexible garden room for the residents on the thoroughfare between the new landscaped courtyard and adjacent play park.

The benefits of the development go beyond those experienced directly by the new residents, as significant enhancements to South Hill’s surrounding green spaces remain a central part of the proposals.

Working in partnership with the Parish of St Helier, JDC’s proposals for the site include the re-design and refurbishment of the adjacent children’s play park. The designs for the park have been influenced by local school children who were asked to design their ideal park as part of a competition. The resulting park designs also include a serviced area for a food vendor and publicly accessible WC’s, making the area a more welcoming place for all.

In response to previous consultation feedback about the challenging access to the site, new and improved walking and cycle routes will make the site more accessible for residents and visitors to the area.

The project was won in competition in 2020, and we look forward to progressing the scheme this year.