The new district will comprise two new buildings alongside the sensitive restoration of the Grade II listed Soapworks building, originally a soap factory dating back to the 1860s, set within an enhanced public realm.
The scheme will deliver 140,000sq ft of flexible workspace to meet demand in the city centre where availability has been squeezed over the past twelve months, as corporates shift to a hub and spoke office model and increase their footprint in key regional cities.
The development, which has been masterplanned by Woods Bagot, will be set around a new public square including biodiverse green spaces, and will create new pedestrian and cycle routes to the city’s commercial centre at Temple Quay and the cultural quarter at Old Market.
Lucinda Mitchell, Project Director at First Base, said: “We are excited to move forward with the regeneration of the Soapworks site, which will restore one of Bristol’s landmark buildings and create a new green mixed-use district in the heart of the city. The scheme will help drive Bristol’s economic recovery from Covid-19 by delivering the modern flexible workspace needed in the city, where demand in the past twelve months has been strong as corporates shift to a decentralised ‘hub and spoke’ office model. Soapworks will be a live, work, play neighbourhood, with high quality homes and a new ecology of independent retailers, food operators and cafes, as well as cultural uses, to attract and retain talent in the city centre.
