Prestoplan has been awarded a £1m contract to supply timber frame structures to a brownfield housing development in Bristol.

Housebuilder Linden Homes Western is to develop three-, four- and six-storey residential blocks featuring one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments on the former site of the Dovercourt car dealership on Cheltenham Road, which will now be known as Essence.

Linden Homes Western said that it had opted to use timber frame in order to speed up the build process and allow the development to maintain a number of features from the original buildings on the site.

&#8220We are incorporating the original foundations and ground floor so it is crucial that we use timber frame to lighten the load on the existing foundations”

Nigel Palmer, Linden Homes Western director and general manager

“We are incorporating the original foundations and ground floor slab of the former Audi dealership building so it is crucial that we use timber frame to lighten the load on the existing foundations,” said Linden Homes Western director and general manager Nigel Palmer.

“The use of off-site timber frame construction will also help us speed up the construction process and greatly minimise disruption.”

Prestoplan sales director Andrew Acford said that the company was “delighted” to have been chosen to work on the development, adding: “Forward-thinking developers like Linden Homes are increasingly turning to timber frame as the construction sector moves away from traditional brick and block methods.”