A proposal to restore a crumbling South Bristol brewery tower and create a new home for student actors has been described as ‘ingenious’ by Bristol’s Civic Society. The proposal would see the Bristol Beer Factory move to Ashton Vale, the tap room move next door, and its site on North Street in Ashton Gate redeveloped in conjunction with the Bristol School of Acting.
The scheme was unveiled in the summer, and artists’ impressions of what the new look old brewery site will look like have now been endorsed by the Bristol Civic Society – an organisation usually fairly critical of many of the large-scale developments in the city.
The Civic Society has told council planners it welcomes the proposals, and heaped praise on the way what will effectively be a mini version of the Tobacco Factory nearby will be created where the Bristol Brewery’s Tap Room pub is now.
The Civic Society’s Simon Birch said overall the project will have a ‘positive visual impact’, because it will preserve and restore the landmark brewery tower, which has long been left to decay as a prominent building overlooking the Ashton Gate end of North Street.
“The Civic Society welcomes this proposal which includes the renovation of the brewery tower and the erection of new buildings providing student flats and commercial floorspace,” he said.
“The design is ingenious and sensitive to the context. The proposed scale of the new development is appropriate to its location and the relationship with existing adjacent buildings is appropriate.
“The refurbishment and reuse of the heritage Brewery Tower is particularly welcome as this is an important building in the area and will have a positive visual impact,” he added.
However, the Civic Society is entirely positive about the Bristol Brewery’s plans. Behind the brewery tower, the industrial buildings on the east side of the Brewery Court business yard, will be demolished to make way for purpose-built student accommodation, with 107 students living in 14 different shared flats.
“It’s disappointing that the scheme includes so much student accommodation. We would prefer a residential scheme in this location,” added Mr Birch.
The project will mean another big change to the Ashton Gate end of North Street. It’s next door to the 98 shared ownership flats currently nearing completion on the larger part of the old Ashton Gate Brewery complex, and close to the Old Dairy site, which has planning permission for more than 40 new flats too.
The plans will see the Bristol Brewery itself move to a new unit in Ashton Vale, but the taproom pub will move to a new location right next door, as part of the almost-finished residential development of the Old Brewery site on the corner of North Street and Ashton Road.
Marks Bread bakery is, in theory, unaffected by the redevelopment around it and will remain, but the proposal also means big changes for the Bristol School of Acting. It’s currently based in the Tobacco Factory but is growing fast. It’s taking on three additional studios within the Old Brewery site next door, and needs a location for its students to live.
The head of school and co-artistic director of the Bristol School of Acting, Stuart Wood, told council planners the prospect of having the students based at the Tobacco Factory and the Old Brewery site, and living in new accommodation on the Bristol Brewery site, ‘builds an exciting creative community in BS3’.
Read more: Bristol Beer Factory could be converted into shops, workspace and 103 student beds
Read next: Bristol Beer Factory has ‘outgrown’ its brewery but hopes to stay in BS3
“Bristol School of Acting is a new acting school in the conservatoire mode,” he said. “It is fast becoming one of the most respected actor training schools in the country, attracting some of the leading tutors around the UK and the US to come and work in Bristol. Within just two years of starting we are already regarded as a centre of excellence,” he added.
“We want BS3 to be the hub for the Bristol School of Acting and are expanding to create new courses in Theatre-Making, Technical Theatre and Script Writing. Eighty-five per cent of our students come from around the UK, as far as Belfast and Inverness,” he added.
But finding accommodation for students in this area of South Bristol is a massive challenge, he said. “They are attracted to Bristol as a vibrant and friendly city but are deterred by the lack of student accommodation and we lose students because of this.
“Our admissions team works flat out from February each year trying to find accommodation. Last year we had to pay to house six students in Airbnb accommodation for up to two months to allow them to join the programmes whilst suitable accommodation was found.
“Having an accommodation partner with property in BS3 would allow us to promote living in Bristol more positively and we would work with a student housing provider for BSA to be the sole occupier. We expect to have around 60 new students from outside Bristol joining us each year and would be looking to house around 40 of them,” he added.
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