The site's scale meant that although the depot was to be the major repair and maintenance point for the Bristol divisional area, the shed was restricted to a steel-frame straight 8-road with northernlight roof pattern form, as opposed to the GWR standard-pattern turntable model like Old Oak Common.

The twin-ramp coal stage was of standard GWR pattern but used concrete beams and brick piers to restrict ramp width.

[4] In 2011, the railway-level depot site was named as part of the 70-hectare (170-acre) Bristol Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone, where reduced taxes and planning controls would encourage development of new businesses.

[5] The site was also considered to become the location for the Bristol Arena, a new 12,000 seater entertainment venue, with construction expected to start in late 2016 and set to open in 2018.

[6][7][8] Development of the Arena was repeatedly delayed, and at the end of 2018 the plans to build it here were dropped; the future for the site remains unclear.