Five shortlisted Designs For The Bristol Arena Revealed

Five shortlisted designs for the £90 million Bristol Arena have been revealed following a Royal Institute of British Architects(RIBA) International Design Competition.

The shortlisted entries for the 12,000 capacity indoor entertainment venue will go on display to the public from the 29th of January and local residents and businesses are being asked for their opinions.

The design teams, all experiencef in delivering major venues in the UK or overseas, are:

• Grimshaw – Architects of the Eden project in Cornwall (with MANICA Architecture, Thornton Tomasetti, M-E Engineers and Neil Woodger Acoustics)
• IDOM - Designers of the Bilbao Arena, in Bilbao, Spain (in collaboration with Foreman Roberts and Nagata Acoustics)
• Populous - Architects for London's Olympic Stadium (with Feilden Clegg Bradley, Buro Happold and Vanguardia)
• White Arkitekter - Architects for Kiruna City Plan, Sweden (with Arup and Sandy Brown Acoustic Consultant)
• Wilkinson Eyre - Architects for Liverpool Arena (with Arup)

Of the shortlisted candidates, Bristol Mayor George Ferguson said:
“This is a once in a generation opportunity to design a great performance venue for the city region that also boosts the regeneration of the Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone. The successful design must above all function well, whilst inspiring audiences and offering a great experience for artists. The new arena must also work effectively and flexibly whilst being deliverable and affordable. I want to know what people think of these five shortlisted designs for this important venue, looking as much as possible beyond the imagery. The competition panel will consider all comments when it meets to analyse and judge all aspects of the proposals at the end of February."

RIBA spokesperson Lynne Sullivan said:
"The judging panel are looking forward to evaluating the shortlisted teams' work and having sight of creative vision applied to the Arena brief for this underused part of Bristol City centre”.

Chair of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership, Colin Skellett, said:
“This is an exciting time for the arena project and these designs offer the first idea of what it will look like. The arena is a key part of the Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone and with the new bridge construction well underway, and a preferred operator on board, the project is moving forwards well.”

The team responsible for which design will not be known by the public until the successful team has been selected in March. The competition will be judged by a panel including the Mayor of Bristol, as well as representatives from Bristol City Council and RIBA, an experienced music and performing arts promoter and a leading structural engineer who's experienced in arena and stadium engineering.

They'll make the final decision on the winning design after judging it against criteria including:

• The architectural concept, how it fits within the urban context and offers a vibrant experience
• The deliverability and affordability of the design
• The flexibility, efficiency and sustainability of the venue
• The composition of the design team, working methods and fees
• Meeting all the requirements of Bristol City Council and the preferred operator SMG and Live Nation

The successful design team will be unveiled in March.

A RIBA exhibition truck displaying the designs will be present at these locations:

• Thursday 29 January - Portwall Lane, Temple Gate, Bristol
• Friday 30 January - Sainsbury’s, Castle Court Brislington, Bristol
• Saturday 31 January - Broadmead shopping area, Bristol

From Tuesday 3rd -Wednesday 11th of February (except Monday) the designs will be displayed at M Shed, Harbourside.

The design proposals can also be found online and you can submit your comments at: bristoltemplequarter.com/arenadesign.

The deadline for the comments is Wednesday 11th February.

The Bristol Arena is expected to open towards the end of 2017 and will be situated near Bristol Temple Meads station in the Bristol Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone.

This project is funded by Bristol City Council and the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership through its Economic Development Fund and is bringing the biggest acts and millions of pounds of economic growth to the vicinity.