RIBA Invited Design Competition Introduction
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Bristol Arena RIBA Invited Design Competition Introduction The Bristol Arena project comprises the design and delivery of a multi-purpose indoor arena, to be located on the former diesel depot site adjacent to Temple Meads railway station in central Bristol. Bristol is one of the few remaining untapped UK markets without an Arena and the project will meet a strong city and sub-regional need for cultural, sporting and entertainment facilities. A new arena will mean more visitors to the city and economic growth; it will be a catalyst for development in the Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone and will allow local residents to see their favourite artists and shows within the city. Bristol City Council (BCC) has approved up to £91m to finance a Bristol arena and is presently selecting and appointing an operator to run the facility. The operator will be responsible for programming, which is expected to comprise music concerts, family entertainment shows, exhibition, sports events, and other uses. BCC will develop the arena design with the appointed operators’ input, in particular the facility requirements agreed with the operator will become the brief to the design team for the design and construction of the arena. Bristol Arena: RIBA Invited Design Competition 2 The Project Bristol City Council have announced an Invited Design Competition providing multi-disciplinary design teams with the opportunity to design a 12,000 capacity entertainment arena in Bristol. The experienced design team will have architectural and engineering capabilities as well as capabilities within the arena/performance venue field and significant knowledge of sustainability and the creation and development of urban spaces. The purpose of the design competition is to select a multi- disciplinary design team that best demonstrates their ability to design an arena for Bristol which is affordable, compliant with Bristol City Council’s and the operator’s requirements, demonstrates industry best practice and shows innovation. It is the aspiration of Bristol City Council that the winning submission will be taken forward as the design for the Bristol Arena, however BCC reserve the right to require the winning design team to develop a new design in place of the design submitted in the competition. Expressions of Interest are therefore invited from multi-disciplinary design teams worldwide for this project, prior to an invited shortlist proceeding to Stage 2. It is anticipated that the arena will open in summer of 2017. As is common practice on projects of this scale involving public funds, the council has decided to notify the European Commission about the project in order to obtain state aid approval. Bristol Arena: RIBA Invited Design Competition 3 Arena Vision The Bristol Arena will offer one of the very The arena will need to be delivered to budget and to a quality set out in the Facility Requirements, yet still be special with an outstanding level of environmental performance. There is a key interface with the public best experiences for audiences, and will realm on the rest of the Arena Island development site, encouraging increased “dwell-time” for visitors be a venue which every major act will want and making the Bristol Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone (BTQEZ) and railway station accessible. “Arena to play. Island” will become a destination in its own right. The arena will have a horseshoe configuration as this offers the most flexibility for future use, with a It will create a “return-again” destination preferred capacity of 12,000 (standing and seated). This scale of venue will position Bristol favourably in the for its customers and a vibrant “Bristol national “league” of facilities and attract a strong entertainment programme. experience” for visitors, which makes our arena different from others. It will be at the forefront of arena programming and content, flexible enough to accommodate a wide range of music concerts, family entertainment shows, exhibition sports and other events. “Arena Island will become a destination in its own right.” Bristol Arena: RIBA Invited Design Competition 4 Location Bristol Arena will be located on the former Diesel Depot site (now known as Arena Island), which covers approximately 9 acres and will benefit from £11 Million investment by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to deliver a new access bridge and extend services to the site. The site is located in the BTQEZ and in close proximity to the city Arena Island development site centre, major access roads, and Temple Meads railway station. The South West Regional Development Agency (whose functions have now been assumed by the HCA) oversaw the remediation of the Diesel Depot site to the standards required for commercial and hard standing residential development. The remediation works were completed in October 2008 and received regulatory approval from BCC and the Environment Agency. A Masterplanning process funded by the HCA is currently underway for the wider site. Further details will be provided at stage 2 of the design completion on how the masterplan will relate to the brief to the design team for the design and construction of the Arena. Additional development will be delivered on the rest of the site in response to this process, by a developer partner (to be appointed). Bristol Arena will be the key component of, and consideration for, the Masterplan and its operational and access requirements will be prioritised to ensure the venue’s success is maximised. Bristol Arena: RIBA Invited Design Competition 5 Master plan The key outputs of the master plan, the LL The arena will have the use of up to 250 car parking spaces on site, which will provide for disabled users, operator staff, and VIP parking. The operator will control use of staff and VIP parking spaces. draft of which will be produced for Autumn BCC is also exploring the delivery of additional public off-site car parking close to the arena. 2014 will be: LL The arena will be a catalyst to the development of the BTQEZ in terms of spatial planning, creating LL a site layout plan for the Arena Island site showing the jobs and generating economic and business rate growth. The BTQEZ is one of the largest urban proposed streets, public spaces, blocks and plots and key vistas; regeneration projects in the UK and is centred around the adjacent Bristol Temple Meads Railway establishing the indicative boundary of the block for the arena, Station, already a major national and international transport hub and whose role is to be enhanced and associated external public space and vehicular/pedestrian still further by electrification of the Great Western Mainline in 2016/2017. access routes; LL A number of existing bus routes run in close proximity to the arena site. These will be complemented LL a clear indication of the optimum location for active uses and by the Metrobus project, providing links from Ashton Vale to Temple Meads and the new bus frontages; and the suggested locations for ‘creative zones’, to be interchange adjacent to the station. located intra-block/in tertiary locations across the site; LL In addition the council has secured £21m funding towards infrastructure from the Revolving LL a plan showing land uses, and guidance on how to deliver a Investment Fund (RIF), which will provide for a number of infrastructure projects aimed at opening up diverse mix of uses, using such methods as limiting plot widths/ the Arena Island site and making the area around Temple Meads more accessible. frontages in certain locations; and mixing-uses horizontally; LL a movement circulation plan showing pedestrian, cycle, vehicular routes and flows; together with public transport provision and car parking; and LL a clear design context for the arena building, articulating its interface and relationship with the new streets, spaces and development blocks/plots proposed; paying particular attention to facilitating activity at street level, including impromptu performance space and meanwhile uses. Bristol Temple Meads Railway Station Bristol Arena: RIBA Invited Design Competition 6 Bristol Bristol is the seventh largest city in England Bristol and the West of England’s cultural scene is one of the most vibrant, innovative and authentic in the country, with the region seeing a cultural and heritage turnover in excess of £100m per annum. and the economic capital of the South West. It is a multi-ethnic city and home to Our cultural offer is cited by many of our largest businesses as one of their main reasons for locating in the region, contributing to our high quality of life that sees the city retain more graduates than any other over 17,500 businesses. It is renowned for Core City. It encompasses, amongst many others, the Hippodrome, Academy Award winning Aardman its excellence in knowledge-intensive and Animations, a number of key works by Banksy, one of the UK’s largest public art programmes (www.aprb. co.uk), and the award winning M-Shed museum. An array of small and medium sized venues continues creative industries and over 35% of the to thrive and cultivate music, which produced the Bristol Sound: Massive Attack, Portishead and Tricky. UK owned FTSE 100 companies have a significant presence in the Bristol area. Bristol Arena: RIBA Invited Design Competition 7 In March 2014 the city was named the number one city in the country for Quality of Life for its residents in The Sunday Times “Best Places to Live in Britain” report. Bristol’s cultural offer is well encapsulated in this quote from the Lonely Planet, “ The city has steadily reclaimed its rightful place as an economic powerhouse, gastronomic centre and a cultural force to be reckoned with… The streets are packed with cutting-edge restaurants, designer bars and world-class museums; and the city’s music, media and nightlife scenes are all showing the rest of the country how things should be done.