For years, the Temple Quarter regeneration project has been something talked about on paper. Now it is happening for real
The new ‘Sloane Robinson’ building – the University of Bristol Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus(Image: University of Bristol)
One of the biggest shifts in the gravity of central Bristol will get under way in less than seven weeks, as thousands of students, new accommodation, a new campus, a new entrance to the city’s main train station and even a new walkway along the floating harbour, all open within a week of each other.
For years, the Temple Quarter regeneration project has been something talked about on paper, in CGIs from architects, in photocalls with politicians wearing hard hats, in the closure of industrial firms and nightclub venues, and in the occasional opening of an early accommodation block, or university facility.
But in the last week of August and the first week of September – just seven weeks away now – the Temple Quarter project will get going for real.
The new eastern entrance to Temple Meads station will be open, with passengers checking out this new exit at the far end of the subway tunnel under the platforms stepping out into a radically transformed world.
Where there was once Bristol’s worst eyesore – the old, decaying Royal Mail sorting office – there is now a shiny new Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus.
It will bring with it 4,600 students and 650 members of staff, focusing primarily on business, entrepreneurship and creative technologies.
And those students will need somewhere to live. In the same week, a new high-rise complex of purpose-built student flats will open at the far end of Silverthorne Lane, overlooking both the Feeder Canal and the St Philips Causeway flyover.
Other new student accommodation as far away as Bedminster and the city centre has been waiting for this moment, which has been ten years in the making, too. The 17-storey, 623-bed Avon Point was built specifically for students of the new campus, and many more PBSAs – purpose-built student accommodation – blocks are in progress or coming soon.
But the sudden increase in student numbers in Bristol, which follows a gradual increase in numbers over the past 15-20 years, means the city is – according to the people who want to build more PBSAs – still behind where it needs to be to house all the students at both universities.
The pivotal moment for the Temple Quarter regeneration does not mean it’s all finished – in fact, the whole area looks set to remain a building site for years to come.
An artists impression of new student accommodation on Albert Road in Bristol, which includes L&G’s Temple Island tower blocks behind(Image: Cubex)
But, with the bright white signage ‘University of Bristol’ now atop the new campus building, and visible from across Temple Way, the Bath Road and coming down the Wells Road, the true start of the huge £500 million regeneration of this part of Bristol has truly begun.
“When it opens, the campus will be a new front door to the university and home for its world-class teaching and research across areas including business, innovation, digital engineering, artificial intelligence, cyber security, advanced telecommunications and quantum technologies – fields that are not only advancing rapidly, but which will define the future of our economy and society,” a spokesperson for the University of Bristol said.
“At its heart will be the Bristol Innovations Zone, a space specifically created to bring the University into closer partnership with businesses, entrepreneurs, and organisations of all kinds, supported by funding from the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority,” he added.
The new enterprise campus has also been given a new name – the Sloane Robinson Building. It’s named after the Sloane Robinson Foundation, which donated £20 million to the University of Bristol – the single biggest donation the university has ever received from an individual donor.
The new ‘Sloane Robinson’ building – the University of Bristol Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus(Image: University of Bristol)
Hugh Sloane graduated from Bristol Uni in 1977 and made his fortune in finance. He later founded the Sloane Robinson Foundation, with his business partner George Robinson – who went to Oxford instead.
Nine years ago, when the University of Bristol bought the old sorting office site, their foundation donated £10m, and followed it up with another £10m.
“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a world class academic campus right in the heart of a city, and next to Brunel’s iconic Temple Meads station,” Hugh Sloane said.
“The cutting-edge interdisciplinary programmes at Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus will draw in the best and brightest minds from across the world, and the economic and civic legacy of this landmark development will resonate far beyond the University, both for Bristol and for the UK,” he added.