International architecture practice Populous have been selected to design the £90m Bristol Arena.
The winning team, comprising of Populous (with Feilden Clegg Bradley, BuroHappold and Vanguardia) has been selected from a shortlist of five to design the 12,000 seat multi-use venue.
In a statement, Bristol mayor George Ferguson said: “The Populous team presented an innovative design. The new arena shone out as the best of five great designs and will sit comfortably on the ‘Arena Island’ site next to Temple Meads and the Bath Road.”
Bristol Arena is set to become another economic driver for the city; it will be designed to achieve a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating and host live events from concerts to shows.
When explaining the winning design in a statement, Nicholas Reynolds, senior designer at Populous commented: “It delivers a world-class live concert venue for 12,000 fans and, with seamless conversion, the atmosphere and intimacy of a 4,000 seat amphitheatre. The adaptive façade will provide the canvas, defining the identity of the building within the Bristol skyline as it transitions between an ephemeral form by day to a dynamic event backdrop by night.”
• A feature on the Bristol Arena, including an interview with Bristol mayor George Ferguson, will appear in the forthcoming Q2 edition of
CLADmag – Leisure Media's new quarterly glossy for leisure architects, designers, investors and developers.
• To read an interview with Populous senior principal Earl Santee, from the Q1 edition of
CLADmag, click
here.
