Bristol
In cities undergoing change, culture is often framed as an afterthought, a soft layer applied after the big decisions are made. But in Bristol, a different story is unfolding. Culture is not being added to the city; it’s being woven into its foundations.
On a recent walking tour hosted by Place Collective UK, a group of artists, creative producers, architects, policymakers, and civic leaders traced the cultural transformation of central Bristol. From the Bristol Beacon to Quakers Friars and the Centre Promenade, the tour revealed how arts, memory, and design are reshaping not just what the city looks like, but who it is for, and how it feels to live in.
A City Built on Making
The tour began at the newly re-opened Bristol Beacon, a landmark cultural venue that recently underwent a major transformation. Theresa Bergne of Field Art Projects, who curated the building’s public art programme, spoke about embedding artists in the design process from the outset.
“The artworks translate the craft of music-making into visual form,” she explained, “while reflecting Bristol’s spirit of ingenuity, its heritage of trade, making, and its vibrant contemporary creative scene.” Featuring new commissions by Linda Brothwell, Rana Begum, Giles Round and Libita Sibungu, the Beacon’s artworks are not decorative additions, but spatial and cultural anchors.
Georgina Bolton of Bristol City Council placed the work in policy context: “Bristol’s Public Art Policy has enabled investment in over 150 public realm projects in the past 25 years. These projects are not just cultural, they’re civic. They’ve shaped how people engage with the city and are grown in response to people and place.”
From Memory to Imagination
This next phase of the tour explored how cities reckon with the past while imagining new futures, a critical part of any regeneration effort grounded in cultural identity and inclusivity.
At the Colston Plinth, the walking group paused to reflect on how Bristol is reinterpreting contested histories in public space. Peter Insole, Historic Environment Officer at Bristol City Council, offered a thoughtful perspective grounded in civic history and continuity into the ongoing legacy of the Edward Colston statue, from its toppling in 2020, to its relocation to M Shed Museum, and the installation of a new plaque that acknowledges the site’s layered and evolving significance.
Rather than remove all traces, the city has chosen to contextualise the plinth, making it a space for public learning and dialogue. The approach reflects a wider civic shift, one that embraces complexity over erasure.
At nearby Centre Promenade, this reflection evolved into proposition. There, artist Oshii has created Our Common Ground, a floor-based artwork commissioned in partnership by Bristol City Council and Bristol City Centre Business Improvement District and curated by the Bristol Legacy Foundation, to work together to diversify the public realm. The project was introduced by Tabitha Clayson, from the Council’s Arts Development team, who explained how the piece emerged from a wider reparative framework, including Project T.R.U.T.H, the Colston What Next? survey, and a Cabinet motion on atonement and reparations.
“It’s about honesty and imagination,” Oshii shared. “Facing the past and dreaming of a shared future. I wanted to create something that belongs to Bristol, where voices, cultures and histories meet on common ground.”
Reimagining Quakers Friars
At Quakers Friars, Michael Cowdy of MOOWD explained how Hammerson’s regeneration strategy is reframing this historic site, once a 13th-century friary, later a marketplace, and more recently a luxury retail destination, as a new cultural anchor for the city.
Inside, the building is being reimagined for civic and cultural uses; outside, the public realm will support performance, play, nature and everyday use. Philadelphia Street is being retrofitted to support diverse ground-floor uses, and integrated public artworks will reinforce the area’s evolving identity.
“Culture here isn’t an add-on,” Cowdy said. “It’s the foundation of the project, shaping what this place is, how it works, and who it’s for.”
Joanna Plimmer of Bristol City Council outlined how this ties into the City Centre Development and Delivery Plan (2023) and the Growth Through Culture Toolkit, which support the shift from mono-functional retail zones to mixed, creative neighbourhoods designed for a growing residential population.
Mary-Helen Young, from Ideas for Night and Day, added that the Council’s new Local Plan policy will require 10% of ground floor space in new developments to be allocated to affordable cultural and community uses. “We’re proposing the establishment of a socially-oriented property management model,” she noted, “to ensure these spaces remain accessible, collectively managed, and sustainably activated over time.”
Bristol Old Vic: A Theatre Reopened to the City
The final stop brought the group to Bristol Old Vic, the UK’s oldest continuously working theatre. Founded in 1766, the building has stood at the heart of Bristol’s cultural life for over 250 years, but until recently, much of it was closed off from the public realm.
David Harraway from Bristol Old Vic explained how a major redevelopment with Haworth Tompkins Architects reflects wider trends in adaptive reuse and theatre-led regeneration has reconfigured the theatre for a new generation. A key move was the creation of a new street-facing foyer, replacing a blank Georgian frontage with a glazed, open public space that invites the city in.
“The transformation wasn’t just about better performance space,” Harraway said. “It was about civic accessibility, creating a building that is no longer hidden behind its history, but visible, porous and public.”
The redevelopment also included upgrades to rehearsal and education spaces, improved accessibility, and the integration of community and event spaces that support everyday use. The result is a theatre that not only stages performances, but participates in the life of the city.
The Old Vic’s evolution shows how heritage buildings can play a dynamic role in regeneration, not through preservation alone, but by adapting to contemporary civic needs and welcoming a broader public.
The Future is Already Here
What emerged across the walking tour was a city not waiting for culture to happen to it, but actively building its future through culture. From policy to public realm, from artist commissions to inclusive property models, Bristol is demonstrating that culture is not an accessory to regeneration — it is its foundation.
To sustain this momentum, it’s essential that local authorities, developers, artists, and communities continue to collaborate, embedding culture into long-term strategies, resourcing it properly, and ensuring it remains accessible to all.
Culture isn’t a luxury. It’s how cities speak to themselves, and to the world. In Bristol, that voice is becoming louder, clearer, and more collective.