The General, Harbourside

"Opening the large and light windows in the morning to let the fresh air and sunlight into the apartment, listening to the fountain splashing in the courtyard. The flat itself is calm and quiet, looking into the courtyard, but is just a few minutes walk away from Wapping Wharf for food and drinks."

The Home

A particularly spacious one-bedroom apartment within The General, with a double-height open-plan living space and mezzanine arrangement that gives the space a very different feel to a typical city-centre one bedroom flat.

The main living space is a real feature. Tall original-style windows rise through the double-height section of the room, bringing in plenty of natural light and giving the apartment an impressive sense of height. There is more than enough room to create separate sitting and dining areas without either feeling squeezed, while the engineered wood flooring runs throughout and works well against the scale and character of the building.

Set neatly to one side is the kitchen, finished with simple handleless cabinetry and a good amount of storage and worktop space. Appliances are by Neff and include the oven, hob, dishwasher and washer/dryer, keeping everything integrated and leaving the main room feeling uncluttered.

The mezzanine arrangement is one of the things that makes the apartment work particularly well. Rather than everything being arranged across one level, the split adds separation between the living and sleeping spaces while still retaining the openness of the original room. The double bedroom is comfortably proportioned with plenty of room for wardrobes and additional furniture.

The bathroom is finished with Crosswater fittings and an electric towel rail. There are also touchscreen programmable thermostats on both floors, allowing each level to be controlled independently, alongside a burglar alarm and video intercom connected to the gated entrance.

Despite being a one-bedroom property, the combination of the double-height ceilings, large windows and mezzanine makes the flat feel considerably larger and airier than you might expect from the bedroom count alone.

The Building

The apartment forms part of The General, the landmark conversion of the former Bristol General Hospital overlooking Bathurst Basin. The hospital was founded in 1832, with the main purpose-built hospital designed by Bristol architect William Bruce Gingell and constructed during the 1850s. The Grade II-listed complex was added to over the following decades and remained in hospital use until its closure in 2012.

City & Country began transforming the site into homes in 2014, carefully working around the original hospital buildings. One of the more interesting parts of the conversion is how the considerable height of the former hospital spaces has been used, including mezzanine levels within some of the apartments — something that can be seen particularly well here.

The flat itself sits towards the end of the row with the lift conveniently nearby. The current owner describes the development as notably quiet and calm considering its city-centre setting, with longstanding neighbours immediately around the apartment.