“It’s so boring to look at”: Exeter residents criticise proposed 10-storey student block

A proposed giant block of student flats in Exeter are being called ‘overbearing’ and boring to look at by local residents.

Revised plans for around 300 purpose-built student flats have just been submitted by the Manchester-based Zinc Real Estate for Clarendon House, which is being partly used as Exeter’s job centre.

The building is currently five stories high but the proposed new block would have up to 10 floors.

These plans are a revision to proposals submitted for the building in the East Gate area on the junction of Heavitree Road and Western Way last autumn.

Zinc first shared the plans in December 2023. It initially showed a 16 storey student block with 350 beds, which the revised scheme has cut to 297 student rooms and 10 storeys following feedback.

The developers say the area is undergoing a significant regeneration with the catalysts being the new leisure centre and bus station which is deemed ideal for student flats.

Zinc have reportedly look at all options for the site including converting it for residential use but they favoured purpose-built student flats.

However, according to DevonLive, nearly every public comment on the city council’s website objects to the plans.

One objector said: “Despite the submission of amended plans, the proposal remains excessively tall, overbearing and wholly out of scale with its surroundings” and that there is no robust evidence that Exeter needs any more purpose-built flats for students.

Another objector said the city’s priority should be on affordable homes for local people and the large block will destroy views of the cathedral from vantage points around the city.

She said: “It’s so boring to look at. I know Clarendon House wasn’t beautiful but why are we building such a BORING building

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“Why can’t we be more ambitious and have something interesting and artistic like in other European cities?”

The latest application will be considered by the city council’s planning committee in the coming months.

Zinc and Exeter City Council have been contacted for comment. 

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Featured image via Unsplash