Re-invigorating Bristol's Castle Park

Above: Bristol's Castle Park with the ruins of St. Peter's Church - courtesy LDA Design

LDA Design has been appointed by Bristol City Council to lead a team to reinvigorate Castle Park, the largest green open space in the city centre.

The Park is an important place, LDA Design reports, with a history stretching back to the city’s beginnings in the 11^th century and the aim of the project is that everyone who lives and works in Bristol should feel able to use and enjoy it.

Castle Park sits at the heart of a changing urban environment, at the intersection of Bristol’s Old City, the Floating Harbour, Broadmead and the Old Market. Redevelopment and densification of the city centre, including Broadmead and Temple Quarter, increases the need for a high-quality, safe and accessible green space, which knits together these key locations.

The 11 hectare Park features the site of Bristol Castle, which was the largest Norman keep ever built in Europe, and the ruins of St Peter’s Church, which was bombed during the Second World War, and which stands as a memorial to Bristolians killed in the Blitz. More recently, the church and park has memorials to Bristol’s armed services from various conflicts. It is also a popular spot for local residents and workers, with a sunny, south-facing aspect along the waterfront.

The new plans will celebrate this history and strengthen the Park’s role as an important green refuge. They will reinforce a sense of place and experience within the city centre and create a more inclusive, multi-functional, active space with better access and more inviting gateways, for example St Nick’s market, Newgate and Cabot Circus, and enhanced biodiversity.

The plans will fit within the vision for the Park outlined in Bristol’s City Centre Development and Delivery Plan (DDP), which sets out how the city centre should evolve in the coming years.

Catherine Birkin, a director at LDA Design and project lead for Castle Park, said, “This is an opportunity to celebrate the richness and take on the complexities of an important central Bristol public space and make it more essential to the everyday life of the city, improving local wellbeing. We are very much looking forward to working with the council and local communities, and we have a great team to deliver a better Castle Park for all.”

Councillor Stephen Williams, Chair of the Public Health and Communities Committee, said: “Castle Park sits at the heart of the city centre transformation and is one of the areas with the greatest need for change. Building on previous work and stakeholder feedback, our aim is to create a place where people of all ages and backgrounds want to live, work and visit, to connect the centre and the waterfront, welcome and encourage wildlife and biodiversity, and to create a safer, more accessible, inclusive space for everyone to enjoy.”

LDA Design will lead a predominantly local team of SMEs, acting as ‘place champions’ to help realise the Council’s development and delivery plan. The team comprises Play:Disrupt, Shared Assets, Purcell, Norman Rourke Pryme, Expedition Engineering, Vida, Wessex Archaeology, Greenage, City ID, Disability Inc, Treeworks, Entran, Distinctive Communications, Fenton Hollway and Bricks for public art.

Image below: courtesy of LDA Design.