What is the use of a house

if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?

Henry David Thoreau

That even applies to these "sea view", holiday apartments on the beautiful Atlantic island of Madeira.

Apartments overlooking the marina in Sutton Harbour.

Almost all the commercial quays,warehouses and workshops etc.that once lined the city waterfront have been redeveloped into apartments blocks, with restaurants and bars etc at street level. 

Then and Now

Built mid 19th Century

Built early 21st Century

Keeping to the straight and narrow.

This lady is walking along an old cobbled quayside in the Barbican Quarter,

where the all the old warehouses have been replaced with expensive water front apartments, 

and all the boats in the harbour are expensive pleasure craft; not a grubby working boat in sight.

The only remnants of the quayside's original bustling life are the cobbles 

and the long disused rail tracks.

Sometimes you can't see the wood for the trees,

and there are times when you can hardly see the Water Front apartment blocks for the masts.

A Stairway in Devon

The Atrium

An Atrium is a large, open air space, surrounded by a building.

Atria were common in ancient Roman buildings.

This one is in a student residential block in the city.

The solitary sun worshipper

The Balcony Gnome

Nowadays, as more people live in apartments

the duties of the Garden Gnome now fall on The Balcony Gnome.

A Thin Red Line

This colourful facade has been very shortlived.

The colours were only applied a week or so ago, (see my post of 18th March 2018,) but Plymouth City Council has ordered the developer, of this newly completed block, to remove the bright coloured vinyl stickers because they were added without planning permission, and there have been complaints  that they don't fit in with the surrounding buildings in the area.

Putting the finishing touches to the facade,

The Climbing Frame

Pile them high, sell them cheap.

I wonder if that will apply to these apartments.

As far as I know ...

... this is the first roof top swimming pool to be installed 

on one of the City's  waterfront apartment blocks.

On a cold and rainy winter's day it doesn't seem the most obvious choice for these northerly climes.

This picture and extract comes from the Local Newspaper, 

"The Herald".

"The pool – 9.2m by 4.2m and 1.5m deep – will fit into a steel cradle on the roof of the Rivage luxury block.

It is for the exclusive use of the new owner of the main penthouse – reserved by a “locally based purchaser” for £1.3m."

 

It is not the beauty of the building you should look at;

it is the construction of the foundation 

that will stand the test of time.

                                                                                     David Alan Coe

 

Highrise

The tallest building, now nearing completion, is a five hundred bed student accommodation block.

 

The umpteenth student accommodation block is nearing completion.

Almost without exception, they are very uninspiring buildings visually.

The warehouses and ship repair workshops have been cleared,

and the footings are being created for the next batch of Waterfront apartments in Millbay Dock.

Winter sunshine

Late afternoon sunshine on the iridescent cladding of this student accommodation block