Bristol General Hospital Building, City and Country Group, Healthcare Design Property Image

Bristol General Hospital Site

Bristol General Hospital Site Development, southwest England design by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, UK

page updated 31 Jul 2016 ; 21 Sep 2011

Bristol General Hospital Site News

Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios appointed to re-design landmark Bristol General Hospital site

Design: Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios

Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios have recently been appointed as Lead Architects for the redevelopment of the Grade II listed landmark Bristol General Hospital site by award-winning restoration and conservation specialist City and Country Group. Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios will lead the winning team, which includes landscape architects Grant Associates and planning consultants CSJ Planning.

image Copyright Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios

Bristol General Hospital is situated in Redcliffe just south of Bristol City Centre adjacent to the Bathurst Basin. The site extends to almost three acres with the imposing main hospital building sitting directly on the quayside. With the opening of the new South Bristol Community Hospital at Hengegrove in early 2012, the site will become surplus to requirements of the University Hospital Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and all services and facilities will move to the new Hospital.

The site contains a number of historic buildings, including the Grade II listed main hospital building, the former lodge and entrance gates on Guinea Street, and an array of Victorian buildings that are either curtilage listed or listed by association.

City and Country Group has established a reputation for prestigious and sensitive conversions of listed and historic buildings and, having paid £6million for the site, will formally complete the deal with the University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in July 2012. The firm hopes to start work immediately rather than run the risk of the empty building being vandalised or falling into disrepair. The Bristol General Hospital project represents one of the largest redevelopments sites in the city, and it is hoped that the redevelopment will act as a catalyst to stimulate the wider regeneration of western Redcliffe.

Welcoming the appointment of FCB Studios, Simon Vernon-Harcourt of City and Country Group said, “City & Country has put in place an expert team of architects at Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios to better understand the historic fabric of the hospital’s buildings and deliver a sensitive scheme that breathes new life into the site”.

Keith Bradley of Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios commented, “We are delighted to have been appointed as architects for the Bristol General. It is a fantastic opportunity to restore, renovate and regenerate an historic set of buildings and adjoining sites in the heart of the Redcliffe quarter of Bristol’s Harbourside. We are looking forward to working with the leading restoration and conservation specialist,City and Country Group, alongside the City Council and local community to make this an exemplary development worthy of the quality of the retained listed buildings and historic waterside context.”

The first phase of the project will focus on removing the unsightly modern additions which are of poor quality and restoring the historically important parts of the main hospital buildings. This will be followed by the construction of new flats. The whole scheme is expected to take around six or seven years to complete.

Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios have extensive conservation and regeneration experience, which includes the refurbishment of major historic buildings and masterplanning in sensitive historic contexts. The practice has great expertise in preparing detailed Conservation Plans and Conservation Statements for a range of projects, as well as a long-standing and productive working relationship with Bristol City Council and English Heritage. Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios are framework architects for English Heritage’s own nationwide Asset Management Plan.

The first general consultation about the future of the General Hospital was held on Tuesday 20th September (4pm – 8pm) and today Wednesday 21st September (12pm – 5pm) in the General Hospital’s main building.

Bristol General Hospital Site – Background

• Bristol General Hospital began life in 1832, housed in some modest dwellings in Guinea Street between the Redcliffe and Bedminster Parishes. The new facilities were the initiative of a group of local Quakers who were appalled at the lack of health provision for the growing industrial poor of Bedminster and Redcliffe and in the early days only local residents were allowed access to treatment. Through personal subscriptions from wealthy benefactors and less wealthy artisans, a new hospital was built on the site of Acramans’ Anchorworks in 1853 and the “locals only” rule was relaxed.

• The new hospital made a grand statement with its Italianate stonework and its French Renaissance rooftops. The original building began as two four-storey blocks joined by a central tower with one block facing Bathurst Basin and the other the New Cut. In 1873 the northern block was extended and in 1890 a new nurses home was wrapped around the corner to Guinea Street. These three phases largely represent the work of W.B Gingell, a local architect known for his elegant warehouses and churches. A new style grew with 20th century additions to the site when the firm of celebrated Bristol architect George Oatley created the elegant south wing and lodge buildings.

• The Redcliffe hospital is one of the oldest in the country and has Grade II listed status making the planning and restoration process even more challenging.

Bristol General Hospital Site Redevelopment image / information from Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios

Feilden Clegg Bradley

Location: Bristol General Hospital, Redcliffe, Avon, southwest England, UK