At the moment, there is a lot of building work across the city centre. From the Harbourside to the area around Temple Meads, some streets that have already been transformed are barely recognisable when looking back.
But the city centre is to change even more as many more projects are in the pipeline. From the nearly completed Castle Park View to the proposals for St Mary Le Port, a lot is being planned.
Here are some of the big developments coming to the city centre:
READ MORE: Street View images show how Bristol has changed in 10 years
Finzels Reach
The first phase of Finzels Reach - which is all complete - includes 440 new apartments, 240,000 sq ft of office space including two Grade A office buildings (Aurora and Bridgewater House), a 168-bedroom Premier Inn, plus a host of cafes, restaurants and a microbrewery across 30,000 sq ft of space. These include the Finzels Reach Market, Left Handed Giant, Spicer + Cole, Bocabar & Le Vignoble which are all open.
The second phase of Finzels Reach on the former fire station site is currently under construction. This incorporates nearly 300 homes (231 build to rent and 66 affordable) alongside the 'Halo' building, which will be one of the most environmentally-friendly office buildings in the country.
Redcliff Quarter
The plans to create an entirely new block of development right in the heart of Redcliffe, between Victoria Street and St Mary Redcliffe Church, was first given planning permission in 2017.
It is one of the Bristol's biggest city centre urban regeneration projects and a new developer took over the scheme in 2021 after no work had taken place for two years.
Instead of retail units, a foodie market, hotel, offices and rest of the 211 as-yet-unbuilt apartments in a 23-storey tower block that already has planning permission, CGD want to fill the site almost entirely with flats that will be part of a build-to-rent scheme.
Castle Park View
Castle Park View will be the new tallest building in Bristol at a height of 98.37m AOD (above ground level).
Looming above the south-eastern corner of Castle Park, the 26-storey residential tower will house 375 flats - 300 of which will be one and two-bedroom private rented properties and 75 of which will be designated as affordable homes.
The development looks to be almost complete - you can view a time lapse of its construction here.
St Mary Le Port
The major development in the city centre would see nine-storey tower blocks being built at the High Street end of Castle Park, at a site known as St Mary le Port. The plan, which would replace some of the city’s worst eyesore buildings on the corner of Wine Street and the High Street and replace them with a new complex of offices and shops, has already been given planning permission.
The development would demolish three 1960s office blocks at the end of Castle Park - the old Norwich Union building and the bank offices that currently surround the ancient church and have consistently been voted Bristol’s worst eyesores. Instead, the developers want to build office blocks up to nine storeys high, and restore the ancient St Mary Le Port street, that runs from the High Street up to the church.
However, the Government is to be asked to step in and hold its own public inquiry into the controversial plans - a move that sparked a spat on social media between the the city’s past and present mayors.
Print works
A four-star hotel and 24 homes are set to open soon at the site of Bristol's historic print works on Broad Street. The former Edward Everard's Printing Works is being transformed into a 255-bed accommodation, 24 one and two bed-apartments, and 4000 square feet of office space.
The hotel will be part of the Clayton chain and is run by Irish company Dalata Hotel Group. It will be a conversion of the listed Everards print works façade and the existing Natwest office building.
Robins & Day site
The plans by developers Dandara would include 20-storey flats at the former Robins & Day Peugeot dealership and garage site opposite Temple Meads station.
The proposals include 400 build-to-rent flats, new shops and cafe units on the ground floor and filling in a ‘missing link’ on a key cross-Bristol cycle path.
A spokesperson for Dandara said that, since it was a ‘landmark site’ it needed a ‘landmark building’.
Boxhall
A modern waterfront food hall with food, drink and music events under one roof, BoxHall will showcase the best in local talent. Whether it’s young chefs looking to open their first site or rising stars from the DJ scene, the venue in converted dockside sheds hopes to become a new creative hub for Bristol.
The Welsh Back venue was due to open this autumn but it has been delayed until 2023 although founder Roger Wade says he’s already looking for chefs, food businesses and DJs to occupy the site.
Originally used by merchants and tradesman going back before Victorian times, the space will feature seven kitchens with food from local restaurants, street food traders and pop-up kitchens. There will be communal dining areas, beers from local breweries and a pontoon for visitors to enjoy unique harbourside views.
One Passage Street
The 11-storey glass-fronted building would replace the existing 1970s offices that sit on the Floating Harbour next to St Philip’s Bridge, close to Castle Park and the famous lead shot tower.
It’s currently the home of Heart FM and the BIMM music college, which is relocating to Kingsdown, but would be transformed into new modern offices that could contain as many as 1,000 workers, if the plans get the go-ahead.
It will be the latest tall building to be proposed in Bristol city centre and is close to the tallest block in the city, the 26-storey Castle Park View, which is nearing completion just yards away.
Castle Park
It was announced earlier this year that another tower block could be built in Castle Park. The scheme could see a new residential tower block on the corner of Castle Park, which could sit some 25 storeys high above a water source heat pump currently being built on the site of a former council depot.
Almost 200 homes will be contained within the 'modular mixed-use' development - the first to be built in Castle Park since the Blitz.
Soapworks
The huge mixed-use development near Temple Meads would be set within a new public square and comprise of two new buildings alongside the restoration of a Grade II listed former soap factory that dates back to the 1860s.
The scheme has planning consent for 154,000 sq ft of flexible office accommodation, as well as 243 build-to-rent (BTR) apartments, 20% of which will be for affordable tenures, and 18,800 sq ft of ground floor retail, hospitality and leisure space. The workspace will be divided into 18,000 sq ft in the existing Grade II-listed building and 136,000 sq ft in a new building.
The initial design for the Soapworks attracted a barrage of objections. A revised planning statement said the coronavirus pandemic had "prompted a review of the development proposals".
