Bristol’s highly successful annual Doors Open Days festival returns in September with organisers promising it will be bigger and bolder as it works closer with many of the city’s businesses.
The free festival, the first of its kind when it was launched 24 years ago, unlocks the doors of many of the city’s iconic buildings, most of them usually closed to the public.
After extending it to two days last year, organisers the Architecture Centre are spreading it over four days – Thursday 7 to Sunday 10 September – and expanding its programme by nearly half again to include more talks, walks and creative events.
This year’s theme of ‘sensing space’ invites attendees to touch, taste, smell and listen as well as look afresh at the 108 venues taking part across the city. 
Bristol Doors Open Days producer Anna Farthing said: “We want to invite visitors to think about how the built environment interacts with the human body and all of our senses.
“From seeing the sun rise over the city to smelling the plants in a sensory garden, watching archive film projected in situ or hearing how sound interacts with architecture, we hope that Bristolians and visitors will be able to experience this fascinating city as never before.”
Speaking at yesterday’s launch event, she said the festival aimed to get people to:
- Follow their nose to see how scent affects their sense of space. From the tempting aromas of Avery’s Wine Cellars and the Dawkins Ale brewery, to the more pungent perfumes of Bristol Sewage Treatment Works or Bristol Waste’s depot.
- Tickle their taste buds in carefully designed spaces where food growing provides enticement and intrigue, including at Frenchay where Feed Bristol has transformed urban food production, at the Malago Greenway Berry Maze, or with a picnic at Windmill Hill City Farm or Golden Hill Community Garden.
- Feel their way around the city as they take a dip in Henleaze swimming lake, dance across the sprung floor of the former Jacob Wells Baths or clamber into the man-made tunnels of Redcliffe Caves.
- Listen to the sounds of the city from sunrise to sundown. Join the dawn chorus from a church tower or hotel penthouse suite, appreciate the acoustic reverberations of diverse sacred spaces, or catch the pop-up choirs surprising visitors throughout the weekend.
The Architecture Centre is this year working closer with property companies such as City & Country, which is developing the former General Hospital into a high-quality mixed-use scheme. The firm is hosting a ‘transformers walk’ on the site.
The Premier Inn at Haymarket and the Radison Blu on The Centre are hosting daybreak sessions so visitors can watch the sun rise while some of the city’s leading environmental businesses – including Thrive Renewables Wind Farm and John Wainwright’s asphalt plant, both at Avonmouth, and Filwood Green Business Park and Triodos Bank’s HQ – will offer the chance to see sustainability in action.
Bristol’s creative sector is represented by The Bottle Yard Studios at Hengrove, where visitors will be able to go behind the scenes on its movie soundstages, and BBC Broadcasting House on Whiteladies Road, along with Spike Island, The Island, Jamaica Street Studios and RWA art galleries and the Trinity Centre music venue.
The city’s Engine Shed tech hub will also open for all four days to showcase how it plays a leading role in Bristol’s innovation ecosystem.
Architecture Centre director Sarah James added: “It’s impossible to go through a single day without encountering architecture. The built environment is intertwined with every facet of our lives – from our work to our homes to our hobbies and social lives.
“Our festival Bristol Doors Open Days is a wonderful opportunity for everyone to get out into the city and explore the spaces and places they walk past every day. As our city expands and grows, we are proud to celebrate its design feats by engaging everyone in the conversation.”
Bristol Doors Open Days is supported by Historic England and National Lottery players through the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Speaking at the launch, Heritage Lottery Fund South West committee member Sarah Staniforth said: “We’re delighted to support the Bristol Doors Open Days festival thanks to money raised by National Lottery players. People of all ages will have the opportunity to step inside Bristol’s significant buildings and places and discover the stories and people that make them so integral to the history and future of their city.”
For more information visit www.bristoldoorsopenday.org.uk
