Bristol City Council and ZED PODS recently celebrated the completion of 12 new energy-efficient affordable homes at Marshall Walk.
People are starting to move into new high quality, modular homes at Marshall Walk, in the Knowle West area of Bristol. This cutting-edge development delivers 12 self-contained, highly energy-efficient, social-rented one-bedroom homes in the heart of the Inns Court community.
Built on an underutilised brownfield site, the homes have been designed for single-person households and half will be used as a stepping stone to help support single homeless people into long term housing. They are funded by Bristol City Council and Homes England, but ZED PODS have been responsible for all aspects of the delivery. The precision-engineered homes were manufactured in a BOPAS-certified factory and craned into place earlier this year. Each home will be energy-efficient, cheap to run and have a low environmental impact, thanks to triple-glazed windows and doors, heat pumps, and solar PV systems capable of generating up to 3,000kWh of renewable electricity annually.
The project originally received planning consent in 2022. ZED PODS was appointed in early 2024 to construct the scheme and their in-house design team carried out a several design changes to overcome several site constraints including limited access, sloping ground levels, the overlooking of neighbouring gardens, and complex topography.
Working closely with the council, ZED PODS produced a design that reduced the overall building height, redesigned the roof modules, and optimised internal layouts — all while retaining the approved planning footprint and ensuring compliance with Nationally Described Space Standards. They also coordinated utility diversions, a common challenge on constrained brownfield sites.
Councillor Barry Parsons, Chair of the Homes and Housing Delivery Committee at Bristol City Council, said: “Creating safe and healthy neighbourhoods, with affordable, high-quality homes is one of the council’s key priorities, and working with partners is key to helping us achieve these goals.
“These 12 homes will help people move on from homelessness and offer people a new start in life. It is another example of using innovation to bring homes forward, and I would like to thank ZED PODS for helping us make the best use of a difficult site.
“These new homes are also low energy and sustainable, which will crucially result in cheaper energy bills for future tenants.”
ZED PODS also exceeded its contractual social value commitments, especially in the use of local businesses, local employment, skills support, and community engagement. In addition, twelve day-release prisoners worked on this project, receiving training and paid employment in modular construction within the factory.
Tom Northway, Chairman of ZED PODS, commented: “We are delighted to deliver our second modular housing project in Bristol — unlocking a constrained site to create sustainable, beautiful homes at pace. In collaboration with the council, we transformed a difficult site into energy-efficient and affordable homes for vulnerable households.”
Marshall Walk stands as a replicable model for unlocking small, challenging urban plots using offsite volumetric construction. It plays an important role in supporting Bristol’s ambition to deliver high-quality, low carbon, and socially inclusive housing.
