Buildings and architecture of Bristol
Bristol, the largest city in South West England, has an eclectic combination of architectural styles, ranging from the medieval to 20th century brutalism and beyond.
The construction of the city's Floating Harbour, taking in the wharves on the River Avon and Frome, provided a focus for industrial development and the growth of the local transport infrastructure.
Key elements of which include the Isambard Kingdom Brunel designed Clifton Suspension Bridge and Temple Meads terminus; the latter served from 2002 to 2009 as the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum, but is now closed.
The city was defended in medieval times by Bristol Castle, a Norman fortification built on the site of a wooden predecessor.
The castle played a key role in the civil wars that followed the death of Henry I. Stephen of Blois reconnoitred Bristol in 1138 and claimed that the town was impregnable.
[13] Bristol Cathedral[14][15] was founded as St Augustine's Abbey in 1140 by Robert Fitzharding, along with its associated school, with the building works continuing in the Gothic style until about 1420.
[8] A 17th-century illustration shows that these were five stories high, including the attic rooms, and that they overhung the river much as Tudor houses would overhang the street.
[9] They put up hundreds of new buildings, reflecting the increased prosperity that came with the new Floating Harbour and trade based at The Exchange, built in 1741–43 by John Wood the Elder.
[53] More modest terraces and squares grew up in the new suburbs such as Hotwells[8] and north into Clifton, including 7 Great George Street, now the Georgian House Museum.
[54] It was built around 1790 for John Pinney a successful sugar merchant, and is believed to be the house where the poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge first met.
Several plays adopted by the abolitionists were performed at the Bristol Old Vic, including Oroonoko, the story of an enslaved African and The Padlock, which was praised by Clarkson for its importance to the abolition cause.
[8] Further development, though in a less formal manner, continued along the radial roads to Stokes Croft and Cheltenham, towards Horfield and in the St Phillips, Redcliffe and Bedminster areas.
Many buildings in the Regency style have a white painted stucco facade and an entryway to the main front door—usually coloured black—framed by two columns.
An instigator of this style was John Nash, whose most notable work in Bristol is Blaise Hamlet, a complex of small cottages surrounding a green.
It was built around 1811, for the retired employees of Quaker banker and philanthropist John Scandrett Harford, who owned Blaise Castle House.
[64] The Clifton and Cotham areas provide examples of the developments from the Georgian to the Regency style, with many fine terraces and villas facing the road, and at right angles to it.
In the early 19th century, the romantic medieval gothic style appeared, partially as a backlash to the symmetry of Palladianism, and can be seen in buildings such as Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery,[65] Royal West of England Academy,[66] and The Victoria Rooms.
It was built in 1897 by William Venn Gough in memory of John Cabot, 400 years after he set sail from Bristol and landed on what is now Canada.
[72] Characterised by complicated polychrome brick and decorative arches, this style was used in the construction of factories, warehouses and municipal buildings built in the Victorian era.
Surviving examples include the Colston Hall,[73] the Granary on Welsh Back, and the Gloucester Road Carriage Works,[74] along with some of the buildings around Victoria Street.
Much of the local transport infrastructure including the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the original Temple Meads railway station—now used as the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum—were designed or built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
[81] In 1864, after over 100 years of planning, the Clifton Suspension Bridge[82] over the Avon Gorge linked the city to the Ashton Court estate.
Since the 1990s this trend has been reversing, limiting access with the closure of a number of main roads, whilst the Broadmead shopping centre has been further developed.
In 2006, one of the city centre's tallest Mid-Century Modern towers was lost, with further historic 20th century structures being destroyed more recently.
The continued existence of the central docks was for some time in jeopardy, as they were seen to be remnants of a derelict industry instead of an asset to be developed for public use.
[98] In the 1990s, a harbourside concert hall designed by architects Behnisch & Partners was planned, but an Arts Council decision cut the funding and the project has not been revived.
[99] This has left We The Curious (formerly At-Bristol), which mixes art, science and nature, with its all-reflective planetarium, as the centrepiece of the Harbourside development.
[100] The Broadmead shopping centre was redeveloped in the early years of the century, involving the demolition of one of the city's tallest mid-century towers, Tollgate House, in the construction of Cabot Circus.
[102] In May 2007, proposals were announced to build approximately 753,000 square feet (70,000 m2) net of homes, offices, and business premises in the St Pauls area.
[106] In 2024, plans were approved to demolish the now closed Haymarket Premier Inn hotel, alongside the former Debenhams department store by the Bearpit.
