It’s a Sunday afternoon in the autumn of 2026, and excited guests are checking in to the four-star hotel that’s just opened in Ashton Gate. They are getting ready for a week of indulging in all there is to know about home improvement, as the Grand Designs Live exhibition comes to Bristol for the first time.
After parking in the multi-storey car park attached to the hotel, they’ve got their first glimpse of the view from the window of the tenth floor hotel room, looking down on the vast roof of the shiny new Sport and Convention Centre. To their right, the big Lansdown Stand of the Ashton Gate football stadium is filling up with thousands of fans gathering for the afternoon match, as Bristol City continue their bright start to the Premier League season.
Down in the Sport and Convention Centre, a small army of people are busy turning it from one to the other: on Saturday night, more than 3,600 fans packed in to watch the Bristol Flyers professional basketball team win, and as soon as the final fan left after the game, work began to clear the seats and turn a basketball venue into a convention centre venue, ready for Monday’s exhibition.
