A showpiece campus scheme on one of Bristol’s most prominent vacant city centre sites has moved a step closer with the appointment of agents to market offices in its first phase.
Assembly Bristol on Temple Way will be a mixed-use scheme with office space, public realm, shops, restaurants and cafes.
The first office building to be developed will be 180,000 sq ft, designed with flexibility, sustainability and wellbeing at its heart – including high ceilings and outdoor terrace areas on every floor.
AXA IM – Real Assets bought the city centre site – at one time it housed the headquarters of Bristol-based insurance giant Clerical Medical – on behalf of a fund it manages in 2015 with the aim of creating a distinctive new part of the city, integrating it with the city centre and the iconic floating harbour.
Following the appointment of a design team led by AHMM to deliver the masterplan, property consultancies, JLL and Savills have been appointed by AXA IM – Real Assets to market the office space which will be at the heart of the scheme.
Along with AHMM, Jinny Blom – one of Britain’s foremost landscape designers – has been commissioned to design the spaces between the buildings to bring a human touch to the new gardens and public spaces, which will include a waterside walkway connecting directly to Bristol’s Temple Meads station.
AXA IM – Real Assets UK head of development Harry Badham said: “Assembly Bristol will create characterful spaces in the heart of the city, establishing waterside links to Temple Meads and with a major new public space on the floating harbour. The scheme will be office led and the vision is to create a new type of people-friendly workspace.”
The development manager for the project is Bell Hammer – a London-based developer and investment manager of commercial real estate.
Bell Hammer director Patrick Davis said: “As a key part of Bristol’s Temple Quarter and the Enterprise Zone, Assembly is at the forefront of a wider regeneration of the area. Its position at the heart of the business district and the excellent connections to Temple Meads railway station make this one of Bristol’s prime locations to do business from, attracting occupiers from UK and overseas.”
JLL Bristol director Ian Wills added: “This is one of Bristol’s most prominent city centre sites which has enormous potential for offering varied and unique spaces for office occupiers, while at the same time creating an appealing destination for the wider Bristol community.
“Once complete, this will be one of the best and most interesting working environments in Bristol.”
Assembly Bristol compliments AXA IM – Real Assets and Bell Hammer’s Assembly London project, which is also being transformed into a mixed-use urban district with four buildings set within three acres of public spaces.
