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Architecture Centre Bristol

Architectural Resource in Southwest England, UK – Doors Open Days News

2 Oct 2017

October-December at the Architecture Centre

Autumn 2017 Events at Architecture Centre in Bristol

Bristol Family Arts Festival events

Get hands on and creative with the Architecture Centre at free drop-in workshops, every Saturday of the month, across the city.

Fun Palace
Hillfields Library: Saturday 7 October, 13:00-16:00, Free
Join the Architecture Centre and the Children’s Scrapstore for a creative pop-up Fun Palace event. Celebrate Bristol’s year as European Capital of Sport 2017 by making models, large and small, inspired by the themes of sporting structures, engineering and identity.

Creative Identity
Junction 3 Library: Saturday 14 October, 13:00-16:00, Free
Explore the theme of identity through model making, drawing and animation with the Architecture Centre, Children’s Scrapstore and Watershed.

Heart your street
Architecture Centre: Saturday 21 October, 13:00-16:00, Free
Bring your street alive at this creative workshop for all ages. Artist Scott Farlow invites you to share your stories, memories and experiences of life where you live and add them to the meeting points.. exhibition.

Festival Finale
Arnolfini: Saturday 28 October, 12:00-16:00, Free
Bringing the festival to a fabulous finish, the finale will be a cacophony of creativity in the Arnolfini Auditorium. Expect making, building, music and film!

Gallery Exhibitions and Pop-Up Shop

Meeting Points: Life on your Street
Exhibition: 14 October to 22 October, Free
Have you met the neighbours? For one week only, explore the creative connections that took place when researchers and artist Scott Farlow invited residents on two streets in Easton and Southville to document the important things about where they live.

Made in Bristol: HOME
Pop-up Shop: 22 October to 28 December, Free
Made in Bristol are coming HOME to our gallery with a new seasonal shop celebrating the places we live and the creative objects and artworks that make our abodes unique. Come meet a maker, buy something beautiful and directly support the local creative economy.

Upcoming Talks & Events

Is Our Landscape Killing Us?
Architecture Centre: 11 October, 18:30, Free
Creating better, healthier urban spaces. Hear a range of speakers from different disciplines converge and discuss the challenges, benefits and importance of creating landscapes that encourage people to engage in healthy lifestyles. Part of Healthy City Week.

Ask an Architect
Saturday surgeries: 14 October and 11 November, 12:00 –16:30, £15 donation
Offering impartial one-to-one design advice with a local architect from a Chartered Practice – don’t miss the last two sessions of the year. In partnership with RIBA Southwest.

How do we create Child-Friendly Cities?
Watershed: Friday 20 October, 14:30, Free
What is a child-friendly city? Hear from leading designers and thinkers who put children at the heart of city placemaking and join BCFC partners for discussion and debate. Part of the Festival of the Future City.

West Country Modern
Arnolfini: Wed 1 November, 18:30, £7/£5
Love it or hate it, modernism in architecture resonates through theory and practice. Hear how it is being reinterpreted at a range of scales, from civic buildings to house extensions, with speakers Juliet Bidgood (Ciam6: Cities Re-imagined), Sandra Coppin (Coppin Dockray) and Geoff Rich (Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios).

Children’s Participation in City Spaces
City Hall: Thursday 9 November, 14:00-16:00, Free
What prevents children playing in city spaces and how do we best capture their views? Following BCFC’s collaboration with local primary schools, hear the issues that young people say affect their play. Part of the Thinking Futures Festival.

The Right to Great Design
Architecture Centre: Wed 8 November, 18:00, Free
Design is everywhere and has a profound effect on our quality of life. So why aren’t the places we live, work and play in better for everyone? Join this round table conversation, where we challenge the impact and responsibilities of design in making better places for us all. In partnership with The Glass-House Community Led Design.

Campus of Ideas
Arnolfini: Wed 29 November, 18:30, £7/£5
Yasmin Al Ani-Spence shares the inspiration and innovation behind the Dyson Campus and other award -winning projects. In partnership with the Bristol & Bath branch of the RIBA. Supported by Ibstock Brick.

Materiality with Eckersley O’Callaghan
Arnolfini: Wed 6 December, 18:30, £7/£5
Talk examining the innovative and wide-ranging work of award-winning engineers including the extraordinary ‘Skypool’ and landmark Apple stores across the world.

25 Jun 2017

Bristol Doors Open Day 2017

Bristol Doors Open Day 2017 at Architecture Centre

Festivals

Bristol Doors Open Days 2017
Festival: Thursday 7 – Sunday 10 Sept, Free
The Architecture Centre brings the biggest, broadest and boldest ever festival of Bristol’s built environment to you this September. Expect four days of dawn to dusk activity, with over a hundred opportunities to see Bristol’s buildings from above, below and within. Join special walks and talks to experience extraordinary spaces in new ways.

Exhibitions

Murdered with Straight Lines: Drawings by Garth England
Exhibition: 31 May – 10 Sept, Free
Bristol buildings captured from a milkman’s memory, Murdered with Straight Lines exhibits for the first time the remarkable drawings of Garth England, on loan from Bristol Archives.

Game on! How Sport pushed Engineering to its Limits
Exhibition: 31 September to 19 November, Free
Celebrating Bristol’s year as European City of Sport, Game On! showcases the best of contemporary engineering in sporting structures.

Events

A Talk with Nils Norman
Talk: Wednesday 5 July, 18:30-20:00, £7/£5
Working across public art, architecture and urban planning, Nils’ projects challenge notions of public art and the efficacy of mainstream urban planning and large-scale regeneration. Hear him discuss his Future Perfect public art commission in Hengrove amid his wider practice.

When We Lived in Modern Times
Talk at Arnolfini: Wednesday 12 July, 18:30-20:00, £7/£5
Inspired by Garth England’s experience of postwar housing development, Bristol City Council’s Historic Environment Officer, Pete Insole and John Grindrod, author of Concretopia & Outskirts, will give their take on the good, the bad and the ugly of twentieth century housing.

Garthopedia
Saturday exhibition tours: 22 July, 12 August, 9 September, 14:00, Free
Drop-in for an informal 30 minute exhibition tour by the Centre’s exhibition curator and hear how the show was put together, along with insights into Garth’s drawings.

Walking Garths Streets
Walk: Wednesday 9 August, 18:00, £7/£5
Join Pete Insole, Bristol City Council’s Historic Environment Officer, as he explores Garth England’s neighbourhood around Wells Road and Broadwalk, sharing stories about the area via the buildings Garth drew.

Future Perfect
Talk: Wednesday 30 August, 18:30, £7/£5
The discovery of Garth England’s incredible drawings occurred during the Future Perfect commission in Hengrove. The project’s curator Theresa Bergne and engagement manager Jo Plimmer discuss the public art commissions and how they engaged local people, including Garth England.

Ask an Architect
Saturday surgeries: 15 July, 2 September, 12:00 –16:30, £15 donation
A chance to discuss your architectural plans, dreams and schemes. Book your 30 minute session and get one-to-one impartial advice from a local architect from a Chartered Practice. In partnership with RIBA Southwest.

Balloon Debate: Saving Bristol’s Buildings
Debate: Wednesday 6 September, 18:30, £7/£5
Hear quick-witted and ardent speakers champion their favourite structure to persuade you, the judges, which of Bristol’s buildings should be saved and which left to fall. This light-hearted ding-dong of a debate will raise the pressure to launch our festival to new heights.

Family Events

Drawing on Memories
31 May to 10 September, Free
During the Murdered with Straight Lines exhibition, the Architecture Centre’s gallery hosts a self-led drawing activity encouraging visitors to explore their own recollections of people and place.

Playday Take Over
Wednesday 2 August, 13:00-16:00, Free
To celebrate national Playday 2017, we’re inviting families to playfully interact with the drawings of Garth England inside and outside our building through drawing, chalking and cardboard constructions.

22 Sep 2016

Architecture Centre Bristol New Chair of Trustees

New Chair of Trustees at Architecture Centre in Bristol

Address: 16 Narrow Quay, Bristol BS1 4QA
Phone: 0117 922 1540

The Architecture Centre announces new chair of trustees and celebrates its 20th anniversary

22 September 2016 – After twenty years at the heart of Bristol’s Architecture Centre, Chair of Trustees David Mellor passes the mantle to Nick Childs of Childs + Sulzmann Architects on 4 October. One of the original founders of the Centre, David will step down after two decades of championing better buildings and ‘raising the design game’ at the first purpose-built architecture centre in the country.

Nick Childs architect:

The Architecture Centre was set up in 1996 with the objective of promoting a greater understanding and enjoyment of architecture and of the benefits of a better built environment. David says: ‘Over 20 years we have raised the level of debate and increased public engagement in issues concerning the built environment in pursuit of our aims to promote better buildings and places for all. This year we celebrate what has been achieved and consider how best to continue to press for the good architecture and place making this city and region should aspire to. I am very pleased that we are still thriving after two decades, and I am confident the good work will continue.’

Architecture Centre Bristol harbourside:

photo © Architecture Centre

As David steps down as Chair it is fitting that the Architecture Centre’s anniversary programme looks back at twenty years of change in Bristol, and looks forward to the challenges ahead in shaping better buildings and places for everyone. The Centre’s newly opened exhibition, Place, Time + Architecture, has been accompanied by a month-long programme of events including a symposium, talks, artist commission and a birthday party finale, in the form of a three-day Weekender (23-25 September). The celebrations are part of the Bristol800 festival marking significant anniversaries in the city.

David Mellor:

The Architecture Centre is delighted to announce that Nick Childs has been selected as the new Chair following an open recruitment process. Nick Childs is an architect who has lived and worked in Bristol for 35 years. He trained at the University of Bath and set up Childs + Sulzmann architects in 1994. In parallel to running a successful practice Nick has played an active role in organisations promoting better buildings and places in the region, such as the Bristol Urban Design Forum, Harbourside Design Forum and Bristol Society of Architects.

Nick Childs guiding an Architecture Centre city walk:

Nick says: ‘I have been a huge supporter of the Architecture Centre since its inception and am delighted to be asked to chair the Board of Trustees as the Centre celebrates this landmark anniversary.’ Explaining his approach, Nick adds: ‘I have a very strong belief that physical space affects people’s lives – it affects our individual behaviour and how a community functions as a whole. I am keenly interested in the conversations the Architecture Centre generates in considering the whole urban space, and I absolutely endorse the Centre’s commitment to inclusivity, equality and learning, and the critical importance for dialogue amongst all city stakeholders. And as a follower of contemporary art I am impressed by the Architecture Centre’s collaborative and inter-disciplinary approach to architecture, art, design and all creative and cultural art forms. It sits in a very exciting space.’

Nick Childs:

David Mellor echoes Nick’s sentiments on partnership when considering how the Centre has continued to succeed over twenty years. David notes: ‘Our success is of course due to our people – great staff and engaged trustees now and over those years. We have been fortunate to have had great supporters of our work, from members and partners to funders. Were it not for instance for the support of Arts Council England, English Heritage and Bristol City Council at the very beginning, we wouldn’t have a home on the Harbourside. It has been the partnerships and collaborations that have ensured the Centre’s longevity.’

Weekender family activity at the Architecture Centre:

photo © Architecture Centre

With the appointment of the new Chair, the Architecture Centre is looking forward to the next two decades and beyond. As Christine Davis, Centre Manager, says:
‘The Architecture Centre was a trailblazer when it set up in 1996 as the first purpose-built architecture centre in the country. Since then it has continued to be at the leading edge of championing design excellence. David Mellor has been a driving force and inspiration throughout the Centre’s history, and it is in no small part due to his vision and determination that we are celebrating 20 successful years. As a team we are thrilled to welcome Nick Childs as our new Chair and eager to work with him in continuing our conversations with professionals and public alike on what makes a great city.’

Nick Childs biography

Nick Childs is an architect who has lived and worked in Bristol for 35 years. Trained at the University of Bath under Ted Happold and Peter Smithson, he set up Childs + Sulzmann Architects in 1994 (www.candsp.co.uk). In parallel to running a successful practice Nick has consistently contributed to organisations in the City that promote better buildings and places for people. He chaired the Harbourside Design Forum for eight years, established the Bristol Urban Design Forum in 2008 and has been a member of the Southwest Design Review Panel since its inception. Nick was president of the Bristol Society of Architects in 2002 and a member of the National Council of the RIBA in 2002 – 2006. He was a teaching fellow at the University of Bath for ten years, took a Masters Degree in Urban Design from UWE in 2012, and is a member of the Academy of Urbanism.

David Mellor biography

A graduate of Cambridge University, David worked in London before moving in 1979 to Bristol based architects, Alec French (www.alecfrench.co.uk). He is founding Chair of the Architecture Centre Bristol, Vice President of the West of England Initiative, a Board member of Bristol Green Capital Partnership and a visiting critic at the University of Bath. Alec French Architects is a long established Bristol based practice. David’s work there has included several winners of RIBA and Civic Trust awards and recent Bristol projects include Aardman’s Headquarters, the Visitor Centre for Clifton Suspension Bridge, and the proposed new museum Being Brunel for the ss Great Britain trustees.

About the Architecture Centre’s anniversary programme
In 2016 the Architecture Centre has been marking its 20th birthday with a year-long programme celebrating People and Places. The programme reaches its peak this September with a month of architecture and design events in Bristol. Bookended by the Centre’s retrospective exhibition in early September and the Bristol800 Weekender at the end of the month, the month has programmed walks, talks, a symposium, family workshops, students design sessions and more, all with the aim of involving everyone in the conversation of Bristol’s built environment design. http://www.architecturecentre.co.uk/events-20th-anniversary

12 Sep 2016

Bristol Doors Open Day 2016

Bristol Doors Open Day 2016 at Architecture Centre

Location: Bristol, south west England

Bristol Doors Open Day 2016, a key festival in Bristol’s cultural calendar, raises the game in collaborative exchange

12th of September 2016 – This weekend at Bristol Doors Open Day 2016, doors were flung open and people poured in to explore places not usually open to the public. With more venues than ever opening over the whole weekend, festival numbers hit an all-time high.

Our Colour at The Pithay was created by artist Liz West and Bristol Biennial Festival of Art and Ideas:

2016 saw a marked shift in the ‘opening hours’ of the festival, which since 2014 has been produced by the Architecture Centre. For the first time ever, the festival ran not just for Saturday but from Thursday through Sunday. Venues were open late with evening tours programmed and new areas in the city included. The purpose of the extended festival hours was to showcase all the many interesting places of the city and to see them in different ways, from familiar favourites to re-discovering forgotten places.

DOD2016 Arup Bristol:

Dr Anna Farthing, who coordinated Bristol Doors Open Day 2016, says,

‘I am delighted with the response to the 2016 programme. We have proven that there is a vast and diverse audience eager to explore familiar buildings in new ways. On Saturday alone, nearly four thousand people experienced our collaboration at The Pithay which quite literally enabled visitors to see an office building in a new light. I look forward to reviewing visitor feedback with all of our venues, volunteers and partners and to building on this raft of public enthusiasm as we shape the programme for 2017.’

BBC Bristol Doors Open Day 2016 Weekend:

Bristol Doors Open Day collaborated with 81 venues to produce special activities over the weekend. Arup Bristol invited attendees to consider virtual space design when opening their tree canopied atrium on Friday evening. Wapping Wharf partnered with architects Alec French to deliver their walking tours of the newly developed Harbourside area. While churches across the city united in bell-ringing cacophony in partnership with Heritage Open Days that gave young and old the chance to to try the ropes.

Clifton Rocks Railway:

Colston Hall:

Bristol Doors Open Day opened a citywide conversation about buildings in Bristol. With bigger attendance numbers than ever before, the collaborative spirit is set to continue at this annual architectural celebration.

Find out more:
Website: bristoldoorsopenday.org.uk
Facebook: BristolDoorsOpenDay
Twitter: @BristolDOD #BristolDOD

Photos © Jon Craig

About Bristol Doors Open Day 2016
Bristol Doors Open Day was established in 1994, and in 2015 saw approx 48,000 visits to 71 venues. In 2013, the Architecture Centre took over coordinating the event. Bristol Doors Open Day 2016 is part of the Architecture Centre’s ‘Opening Doors to Heritage’ project, funded by Historic England and Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

St John on the Wall:

About Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF):
Thanks to National Lottery players, we invest money to help people across the UK explore, enjoy and protect the heritage they care about – from the archaeology under our feet to the historic parks and buildings we love, from precious memories and collections to rare wildlife.
www.hlf.org.uk

St Stephens Church:

About Historic England
Historic England is the public body that looks after England’s historic environment. Historic England champions historic places, helping people understand, value and care for them. www.historicengland.org.uk

St Stephens Church:

Bristol Doors Open Day 2016 Supporters

Partners:
• Burges Salmon
• Smith & Williamson
• Triodos bank
• Wapping Wharf

Supporters:
• Alec French Architects
• Bristol Civic Society
• Business West
• First West of England
• Jelf Group
• University of Bristol
• John Perkins Construction
• Rise Consulting Engineers

Further information: www.bristoldoorsopenday.org.uk/supporters

St Stephens Church:

About Heritage Open Days
Heritage Open Days is the country’s largest heritage festival with around 5,000 events, over 40,000 volunteers and more than three million visitors taking part. Celebrating local history, architecture and culture, the four-day event offers everyone the chance to see hidden places and experience something new – all of which are completely free to explore.
www.heritageopendays.org.uk

28 Jul 2016

Architecture Centre Bristol Month of Architecture in 2016

Architecture Centre launch month of architecture

Location: Bristol, south west England

The Architecture Centre celebrates 20th anniversary with a month long celebration of architecture and design this September

Architecture Centre Bristol gallery:

28th of July 2016 – This year the Architecture Centre has been marking its 20th birthday with a year-long programme celebrating People and Places. The programme reaches its peak this September with a month of architecture and design events in Bristol. Bookended by the Centre’s retrospective exhibition in early September and the Bristol800 Weekender at the end of the month, the annual highlight of Bristol Doors Open Day is sandwiched in the middle.

Architecture Centre gallery:

For twenty years the Architecture Centre has aimed to inspire, inform and involve people to help shape great places. The anniversary events will bring alive what has always been and will always be at the core of the Architecture Centre’s existence – a curious mind and a passion for great architecture and design. ‘The Architecture Centre has done a brilliant job developing creative and artistic engagement with architecture over the last 20 years. It is an organisation that consistently challenges itself to innovate, excel and take artistic risks, combining a passion for design excellence with a great track record for bringing people and places together’ says Phil Gibby, Area Director, Southwest, Arts Council England.

Subs outside Architecture Centre space:

Architecture Centre Harbourside:

Architecture Centre:

Architecture Centre Bristol Month of Architecture Programme Highlights

Programme Highlights

Place, Time + Architecture: 20 years of people and places – Exhibition
9 September – 13 November
A retrospective exhibition presenting a review of Bristol architecture and design over the last 20 years. Taking stock and looking ahead it considers what the future might be for one of the city’s most contested spaces – Castle Park. Read more

Place, Time + Architecture – Symposium
23 September
Delving further into the retrospective exhibition, the symposium discusses the future state of place-making in the city with a keynote presentation by Ivan Harbour of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and a panel of distinguished panel speakers chaired by Peter Murray, Chair of New London Architecture. Read more

The Weekender
24 – 24 September
On Saturday visitors can dive headfirst into architecture and enjoy a range of free activities from guided walks to advice sessions, from live illustration to exhibition tours at the Centre’s Harbourside home.
On Sunday join the Architecture Centre’s big birthday party as they transform Narrow Quay into a village green with family friendly activities, a fun palace by the Shape My City young people, an architectural cake competition and lots of creations and interventions by UWE’s Masters of Architecture students, as well as the culmination of Sounding City by Jennie Savage. Read more

Bristol Doors Open Day – Festival
10 – 11 September
Two days, more venues, bigger than ever, Bristol Doors Open Day reveals the largest programme to date for 2016. Over 80 venues old and new will be throwing open their doors, offering free activities and behind-the-scenes access. Read more

Sounding City – Artist commission by Jennie Savage
Responding to local Bristolian conversations and anecdotes, Jennie Savage’s Sounding City interprets people and place through music. The conversations made into songs will be performed by local bands at the birthday Weekender event. Read more

Heatherwick Studio: Making spaces – Talk
Andrew McMullan, Project Leader at Heatherwick Studio, shares stories about key projects including the iconic Olympic Cauldron and the award-winning UK Pavilion for the Shanghai Expo.

David Mellor, Chair of the board of trustees and key founder of the Architecture Centre in 1996 recounts during the breakfast launch ‘Over 20 years we have raised the level of debate and increased public engagement in issues concerning the built environment in pursuit of our aims to promote better buildings and places for all. This year we celebrate what has been achieved and consider how best to continue to press for the good architecture and place making this city and region should aspire to. I am confident the good work will continue.’

20th Anniversary Programme Supporters
Our 20th anniversary partners include Arup, Landscape Institute with LT Studio, and University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust with the University of Bristol.

Programme sponsors include City & Country, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, Ferguson Mann Architects, Max Fordham, Stride Treglown and Wilkinson Eyre, with ongoing support from Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, RIBA and University of the West of England. Lunch is generously provided by Sapa Group / Technical.

The symposium is supported by Bristol800 and is part of the Architecture Centre’s Opening Doors to Heritage project, supported by Historic England and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

Bristol800 is a programme throughout 2016 marking significant anniversaries in the city and what they mean for Bristol now and into the future. Bristol800 is an initiative of Bristol Cultural Development Partnership (Arts Council England, Bristol City Council and Business West). www.ideasfestival.co.uk

1960s Narrow Quay with derelict Architecture Centre space:

Architecture Centre Bristol

The Centre’s free exhibition gallery is open
Wednesday to Friday 11 am – 5pm
Saturday – Sunday 12 – 5pm
(Closed Monday and Tuesday)

[email protected]
www.architecturecentre.co.uk
Twitter: ArchCentre
Facebook: ArchitectureCentre

Address: 16 Narrow Quay, Bristol BS1 4QA, England, UK
Phone: 0117 922 1540

Architecture Centre Bristol Events Archive – 2012 to 2016

Bristol Architecture

Bristol Architecture Design – chronological list

Bristol Architecture News

Bristol Architect Offices – design firm listings

Bristol Architecture

Bristol Architects

Bristol City Museum
Architects: LAB Architecture Studio
Bristol City Museum

House of Fraser store, Cabot Circus
Architects: Stanton Williams
House of Fraser Bristol

Bristol General Hospital site redevelopment
Architects: Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
Bristol General Hospital site

Comments / photos for the Bristol Architecture Centre page welcome

Website: Architecture Centre