Bristol Civic Society has opposed plans for two tower blocks in the city centre on the "strongest terms".
Developer Olympian Homes has submitted plans to demolish the city's Premier Inn overlooking St James Barton roundabout, known as The Bear Pit, and replace it with two towers of 28 and 18 storeys.
The 28-storey tower would be student accommodation with 445 beds while the 18-storey block would be made up of “co-living” flats with 136 bedrooms, 20% of which would be "affordable".
Premier Inn's owner Whitbread said it had decided to offload the 20-storey building, originally built as the offices for Avon County Council in 1972, due to its age and maintenance costs. If Olympian's plans are approved the 28 storey tower block would make
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However, Bristol Civic Society has raised concerns over the development's height and scales, sustainability, impact on heritage and affordability.
In a 12 page document the independent organisation said: "Now we’ve had the opportunity to look at the proposals in detail, we don’t like them any more than we did when we first saw them. We believe an opportunity is being missed to reconfigure this part of Bristol in a way that civilises our streets at human scale.
"We have serious questions about the quality of accommodation being created, and aren’t convinced by the developer’s ‘green’ sales pitch. In our view, the proposals show a disappointing neglect of how we should plan our city in the face of climate change."
The organisation exists to to "improve Bristol's built environment and celebrate its heritage".
In a statement it continued: "National policy tells us that creating high quality, beautiful and sustainable buildings and places is fundamental to what the planning and development process should achieve. These proposals, however, are the epitome of the industrial scale, nowhere but everywhere urban design and architecture that is changing the character of Bristol for the worse.
"We are particularly appalled by the proposed 28-storey tower. It is cavalier in its disregard for the principles that make successful places and the unique character Bristol derives from a successful integration of built form and topography. We’re worried that these proposals perpetuate the sort of mistakes previous generations made and we, who are still living with them, regret.
"We have, therefore, objected in the strongest terms to the planning application."
Bristol City Council will make a decision on the proposed plans.
BusinessLive has contacted Olympian Homes for comment.
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