Development - Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone
Value - Over £200m
Size - 70 hectares
Developer - Various


The Temple Quarter development is a 25-year plan to completely revamp the area around Temple Meads and will benefit from Enterprise Zone status.
The ultimate aim is to create 17,000 new jobs and bring 400 new firms to the city over the next two decades. The city's Local Enterprise Partnership, the organisation which is masterminding the scheme, hopes that the BBC will move its Bristol operation from Whiteladies Road on to vacant land next to the station and discussions have been taking place for several months. A major element of the scheme is a plan to build a 12,000-seat indoor arena on vacant land behind the station.

The planned redevelopment of Temple Meads station has been included in the scheme and the idea is to completely refurbish the historic building. A new platform is planned in Brunel's original Passenger Shed for the service linking Bristol to London and the aim is to shift the main entrance of the building to where the long-stay car park now stands, creating a passenger hub to connect rail and bus services.

The Paintworks project in Brislington is also part of the Enterprise Zone, along with a strip of land for creative companies, dubbed the "media mile".

The final element of the project is the redevelopment of the St Philip's area to make it more attractive to businesses.

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/images/localpeople/ugc-images/275775/Article/images/15918850/3729319.png
Zone outline:
http://www.westofenglandlep.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/EZ-leaflet-2011-map2.jpg

[IMG]http://www.bristoltemplequarter.com/assets/components/phpthumbof/cache/589316de19852631eeb951380658922a.72ed7d6fa8b99639ee92827216d53f21.jpg


For more information - http://www.bristoltemplequarter.com/

It'll be interesting to see how much of what's in this artists impression will see the light of day.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nQdcHhdiPyM/T5si3D8D7SI/AAAAAAAAAxw/1F8BakL6RRw/s1600/120427templevision.jpg

The area outside of the main entrance of Temple Meads, as of May 2012:



Photography by Nicksarebi (http://www.flickr.com/photos/34517490@N00/) of Flickr

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5152/7217843080_25dff473e0_c.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7074/7217851398_66c3eafb27_c.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7086/7217829486_df231ddb49_c.jpg

<shudder> Those buildings across the road (Peugeot garage and the Holiday Inn) need to go SOON. </shudder>

The city council are applying to the West of England LEP for intererst free loans from its revolving investment fund. £14m is wanted for infrastructure in the enterprise zone and £6m to do work to Temple Circus. I wonder if that's sufficient for a conversion from a roundabout to a crossroads?

What are they building in the place of all that beautiful rubble?

It'll be interesting to see how much of what's in this artists impression will see the light of day.



Not the high-rise, too close to temple meads

BRISTOL could get its long- awaited indoor arena within the next four years, the Post has discovered.

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Bristol-12-000-seat-arena-2016/story-17026000-detail/story.html

The 12,000-seater concert venue would be built on derelict land at the back of Temple Meads station at a cost of up to £80 million and would be one of the biggest in the country.


A conference of business leaders and planners were given details of the scheme today and the people behind the project say they have been holding talks with entertainment operators interested in backing the project.

Bristol is one of the few major cities in the country not to have a major venue and business leaders have claimed the city's economy has suffered as a result.

The arena is part of a multi-million-pound set of proposals to improve the area around Temple Meads station. The Local Enterprise Partnership, which is made up of business and council leaders, launched the Enterprise Zone in the spring with the backing of the Government.

The aim is to attract hundreds of new businesses into the area along with new venues, restaurants, bars, shops and housing. The first detailed plans for the project were made public this morning at the event which was held at Brunel's famous Passenger Shed next to the railway station.

The proposals include a remodelling of the road network in and around Temple Meads station, the new arena, new road bridges, a major revamp of Temple Meads and the creation of a new public transport interchange.

The LEP is looking for around £20 million of funding to pay for improvements to the infrastructure in the area and a bid has gone in to central government for the cash.

The master plan for the Enterprise Zone has been drawn up by Bristol City Council and will give city planners a blue print to work off for the next two decades.

It is hoped the £20 million from central government will help pay for junction improvements, vehicle access links, bridges, walkways, public spaces and the remodelling of Temple Circus roundabout to improve traffic flow.

Colin Skellett, chair of the West of England LEP, has been overseeing the project and said an announcement on funding is expected next month.

A feasibility study is being drawn up for the 12,000-seat arena on the former diesel depot site which is expected to cost between £60 million and £80 million.

The study will look at market demand for an arena and operator interest. A project funding model will be developed, together with procurement and delivery solutions. The plan is to start building the arena in autumn 2014, with work estimated to take around 18 months.

The land was owned by the South West Regional Development Agency who spent £20 million on decontaminating the land only to dump the project. The Homes and Community Association has since taken over as owner of the land.

Mr Skellett said: "Our ambition is to make Bristol Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone a superbly connected entry to Bristol and a hub for creative, high technology and low carbon companies, creating a catalyst for economic development.

"Since we officially opened the Enterprise Zone for business six months ago, an enormous amount of work has been going on behind the scenes by all the partners to drive the project forward.

"We have also taken a major step towards securing jobs, growth and investment with the signing of the City Deal a couple of weeks ago, which will help us deliver an additional 40,000 jobs and over £1 billion of investment to our region over the next 25 years."

Simon Cook, the leader of Bristol City Council, said: "Bristol Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone is an unparalleled opportunity to create a new 21st century quarter in the heart of Bristol.

"Once we have an announcement on our £20 million infrastructure bid next month, we will be able to start delivering the package of infrastructure works needed to support the Spatial Framework and speed up the development of the zone."

The other key players in the project, the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and Network Rail, also gave updates on their areas of work at the event.

David Warburton, HCA head of area, said: "We've made considerable progress over the last year to help prepare the Enterprise Zone for a transformation into a destination of choice for creative organisations.

"Our work to transform the former vacant land into a live events and performance space for Creative Common has attracted more than 11,000 visitors to the Zone in recent months while the long-term future of our sites is to be determined."

Patrick Hallgate, Network Rail's Western route managing director, said: "Today provides the people of Bristol with an opportunity to see the progress so far in this landmark project at Bristol Temple Meads station.

"We want to use their input and views to help shape the future of their station."

And the BBC



Arena music venue 'crucial' for Bristol enterprise zone
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/63258000/jpg/_63258325_63258321.jpg

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-19811027
A 12,0000-seater music venue on the Temple Meads Enterprise Zone in Bristol is possible by 2016, the council says.

City council leader Lib Dem Simon Cook will tell a conference an arena on the site of the old diesel depot site is a crucial part of the zone.

He stressed although it was early days potential operators believe its size would attract many good quality shows.

Mr Cook said there was a risk a larger version would be built in Cardiff if the Bristol arena did not go ahead.

"We've fallen behind Cardiff too often in the past. It is really time to grab the opportunity and go for it.

"There is a very big interest in an arena for Bristol... we're absolutely determined to deliver it," he added.

It is believed the arena would cost up to £80m to build, some of which will come from the government's City Deal fund.

Several plans for an entertainment arena have been put forward since 2003 but the idea was dropped in 2007 when costs rose to £86m.

Then in 2009, plans for a 15,000-seater music and sport venue were proposed with a second site at Ashton Vale close to where Bristol City Football Club wants to build a new stadium.

The city's biggest music venue is the famous Colston Hall, which can hold about 2,000 people.

Bristol 24/7 (http://www.bristol247.com) also has a story (http://www.bristol247.com/2012/10/03/bristol-arena-at-temple-meads-to-be-built-in-2014-2014/) with more images (or the same image from different perspectives), for what it's worth.

I appreciate that they are only illustrative drawings but have you noticed that the "enterprise" zone within our "commercial" district does not appear to show any tall buildings let alone skyscrapers.

Around Temple Meads / Temple quay is the obvious place for this city to really announce itself as a vibrant, commercial centre but we will end up with the usual bland "9 storey tower!" lego blocks that appear all around central Bristol

I appreciate that they are only illustrative drawings but have you noticed that the "enterprise" zone within our "commercial" district does not appear to show any tall buildings let alone skyscrapers.

Around Temple Meads / Temple quay is the obvious place for this city to really announce itself as a vibrant, commercial centre but we will end up with the usual bland "9 storey tower!" lego blocks that appear all around central Bristol

As they seem to be aiming at the creative and media market, there may be little demand for that type of building. English Heritage would also be unlikely to approve of tall buildings close to Temple Meads. I just want any new buildings to be good - I don't mind at all if they are 'short'.

Yeah I kinda agree berty... quality is quality regardless of size (I'll leave the innuendo alone here I think, tempting as it might be),
but...with Bristol's recent history of architecture, I think sometimes I'd prefer a tall lump of generic shite over another small lump of generic shite. Even if it is visible across the city, yes. My youthful, insatiable desire for tall buildings has mellowed with age (the kind of maturity that no doubt leads eventually towards a stance mirroring that of EH and the like) but it would still be nice to have just one or two buildings in this fair city tall enough to stand beneath and induce a little 'wow' in your innards.
The demand may not be there at present, but I'm sure we'll see the likes of Bank Place and Glassfields get off the ground at some point, which had they been vertical, no doubt had the potential to be 100m+ each.

Also, I seem to remember seeing a tallish building on one of the renders near the railway bridge at the TM ferry stop. Don't know if that is a serious proposal or not.

Also, I seem to remember seeing a tallish building on one of the renders near the railway bridge at the TM ferry stop. Don't know if that is a serious proposal or not.

Probably the new multi-storey car park ;)

Yeah I kinda agree berty...

:nuts: You mean geoff? ;)

Oh, yeah. Sorry bb. And sorry geoff!

Actually, there it is - 3rd image on this thread. Medium-rise next to the new shiny bridge, probably around the same height as the bristol eye.