Bristol City Council has appointed LDA Design to lead a team to reinvigorate Castle Park, the largest green open space in the city centre.
The Park is a significant location with a history dating back to the city’s founding in the 11th century, and the project aims to ensure that everyone who lives and works in Bristol can use and enjoy it.
Castle Park sits at the heart of a changing urban environment, at the intersection of Bristol’s Old City, the Floating Harbour, Broadmead and the Old Market. Redevelopment and densification of the city centre, including Broadmead and Temple Quarter, increases the need for high-quality, safe, and accessible green space that knits together these key locations.
The 11-hectare Park features the site of Bristol Castle, which was the most extensive Norman keep ever built in Europe, and the ruins of St Peter’s Church, which was bombed during the Second World War and stands today as a memorial to Bristolians killed in the Blitz. More recently, the church and park have memorials to Bristol’s armed services from various conflicts. It is also a popular spot for local residents and workers, with a sunny, south-facing aspect along the waterfront.
The new plans will celebrate this history and enhance the Park’s role as a vital green refuge. They will reinforce a sense of place and experience within the city centre, creating a more inclusive, multi-functional, and active space with improved access and more inviting gateways, such as St Nick’s Market, Newgate, and Cabot Circus, as well as enhanced biodiversity.
The plans align with the vision for the Park outlined in Bristol’s City Centre Development and Delivery Plan (DDP), which sets out how the city centre is expected to evolve over the coming years.
LDA Design will lead a predominantly local team of SMEs, acting as ‘place champions’ to help realise the Council’s development and delivery plan. The team comprises Play:Disrupt, Shared Assets, Purcell, Norman Rourke Pryme, Expedition Engineering, Vida, Wessex Archaeology, Greenage, City ID, Disability Inc, Treeworks, Entran, Distinctive Communications, Fenton Hollway and Bricks for public art.
The next stage of the engagement process is now underway with in-person events in October.